Liberty Baptist Church
5th & Christina Street
Kief, McHenry County, North Dakota
5th & Christina Street
Kief, McHenry County, North Dakota
Liberty Baptist Church was built in 1902. It included Late Gothic Revival architecture. The church was the first "Stundist" church built in North America.
It has a hipped roof that is similar in design to the roofs of pioneer homes built by Ukrainian immigrants to the upper Great Plains.
The building was moved in 1936 to its current location. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
It has a hipped roof that is similar in design to the roofs of pioneer homes built by Ukrainian immigrants to the upper Great Plains.
The building was moved in 1936 to its current location. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
The immigration to America of people persecuted for their religion and their success in their adopted land, is a history the Ukrainian community at Kief shares with many other groups.
Converted by German Baptists, seven Ukrainian families sold prosperous farms in the Ukraine in 1898 and made a 17-day ocean crossing to Philadelphia, seeking freedom of worship. They found shelter for the winter with German Baptists at Tripps, South Dakota.
On April 26, 1899, they started out on another 17-day journey, this one by covered wagon to Harvey. Aided by Rev. Alexander Nikolaus, who became their first pastor, they moved farther west, took homesteads, and suffered the famine and other difficulties of pioneers.
They organized the Liberty Baptist Church on April 4, 1901, at a meeting in the sod house of John Wash, several miles from Kief. In 1902 they constructed a church building, which was renamed in the late 1930's when it was moved two miles east Into Kief for the comfort of the older parishioners in town. In early times Rev. John Buckmelder came from Max once or twice a month to preach. The 16 by 32-foot structure was the first Russian Baptist Church in the United States! It is still in use.
When the church celebrated its Jubilee in 1972, the sixth generation of settlers participated in hymns, prayers and Bible reading in Russian, German, and English. Rev. A.W. Bibelheimer, former pastor, took part in the program along with Rev. Ernest Lautt, the current pastor.
In the services the families recalled the early church: overflow crowds at early services; meals of oatmeal or thin soup; families walking three miles to church carrying their children in order to spare the horses during heavy work periods. The horses after all, had worked all week!
The early settlers Included Alexandra Galamaga and her son-in-law and daughter Nick and Carrie Spichke. William and Ellen Sukumlyn who homesteaded two miles west of Kief in 1901, also were early settlers. In 1898 Anton Bokovoy homesteaded the land on which Kief began in 1906.
Kief was Incorporated in 1908 and had more than three hundred residents in 1918. It Included five churches, Mennonite, Lutheran, Adventist, and German and Russian Baptist, four general stores, four elevators, a bowling alley and many other businesses. Sam Parpenko, who operated a store there from 1929 until It burned in January 1981, recalled his parents homesteaded in 1889 and his father, Mike, walked to Balfour for groceries.
The school, built in 1910 and operated until 1959, once boasted 128 youngsters in grade school and in 1921 there were 44 high school students.
Mrs. Philip Spichke, whose parents, Peter and Dorothy Donelenko and grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Fred Simbalenko came in 1889, recalled that early church services were lengthy and joyful. "None of those early settlers had seminary training, but when they gathered in the homes they would speak and sing until the early morning hours."
Philip Spichke recalled that, "In the beginning there were no chairs, so the men stood on one side and the women on the other." Those early services in the Ukrainian language began at 11:00 and lasted until 1 or 1:30.
Philip Spichke noted a couple of Ukrainians settled here before 1900. Germans and Norwegians had settled the northern end of Land Township so when more Ukrainians came in, they settled a strip five or six miles wide and then west through Ruso and Benedict to Max. Some of these settlers were those who had lived for a time in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They came with freight cars and horses in many cases, but most of the Ukrainians were like Philip's father, arriving with a little hand luggage and almost no money. His father had $30 in U.S. funds!
The Soo Line had a land office at Balfour and land spotters would accompany the new Immigrants out to the land and drop them off. A tiny sod house on the prairie was the dropping off point.
Area ranchers brought horses in to sell to the newly arrived Russians. The elder Spichke, like many of the Ukrainians, bought a cow from H.R.W. Bentley, the first area postmaster who had settled here in 1889 just east of Brush Lake now Lake Bentley. Mr. Bentley who ran a small store, extended credit for groceries and other things to the Ukrainians, Mrs. Spichke recalled gratefully. Very little was purchased. Bread and potatoes were the food staples. She recalled her mother would take the horse and stone boat to travel to Bentley to buy flour, sugar, syrup and occasionally some rice and tea. Philip Spichke remembers that a welcome addition was the
eggs from ducks and goose nests around the big slough west of his farm, where the boys herded cows and horses.
Philip talked about their family's first home. Made of sod, it had rafters of wood cut mostly along the Mouse River, with grass for thatch over that. The walls were about two feet thick, but it had a very low door, so one had to bend over to enter. Once the house was built, the settlers dug for clay which they plastered inside and out on the walls, thus keeping any dirt from the sod walls and roof from drifting down on the occupants. And each Saturday after the floor was thoroughly swept, new clay was rubbed over it and his mother spread it with sweet-smelling newly cut grass.
Those fortunate enough to be settled already often had newly arrived friends and relatives bunking with them for half a year at a time while other quarters were put up.
The Spichkes had a stove of clay and rock about four feet wide and five feet tall. Philip recalled sleeping on top of it. It was lined with small stones to hold the heat and had a small trap door in front. Hay, straw, and any bits of wood which could be found were burned to heat it and make a bed of ashes. Then food was put in to cook in the heated interior.
Some of the Ukrainians had lived elsewhere in the United States for a time, including Ann Spichke's father who had worked for a year in a Philadelphia overall factory. However, few spoke English, though several, including John Wash, took Americanized names. Mr. Horbenko was often called upon to Interpret since he had spent two or three years in the United States prior to arriving in McHenry County.
School, therefore, was especially important. The first classes were held in the home of a widow, Mrs. Moses. Philip Spichke remembered his first teacher holding up a picture of an apple and saying its English name. An interpreter was needed in 1907 when the first school was built just south of Spichke's farm. Mr. Spichke also sought an interpreter when he filed on his land in Fessenden, after walking there barefoot along the railroad tracks to save shoe leather.
Lack of English did not prevent the Ukrainians from working, however. Many of the men went all the way to Cathay to thresh after they had wagons and other implements, and the additional income was most welcome.
Over the years the Ukrainian colony year at a time while other quarters were put up. The Spichkes had a stove of clay and rock about four feet wide and five feet tall. Philip from Kief to Max thrived and grew. And it spread across the Missouri River to Killdeer and Watford City. The colonists for the most part prospered, and some became wealthy. Others, of course, who had poorer land, were not so fortunate, and when Canada opened land for homesteading in about 1912, a number of them went to Saskatchewan. After the first World War some went to Chicago, Detroit and other eastern cities, and during the depression many went to the Pacific Coast.
There were those, of course, who yearned for their fatherland and after several years in Dakota they returned to the Ukraine, some to visit, but other remained there. The fate of those who remained Is told in the fascinating book, Pilgrims of the Prairie by Andrew Dubovy, translated and edited by Marie Halun Bloch and contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lakoduk:
"But later they all perished there of famine inspite of the fact that they took a great amount of money with them. The famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine (was) artificially created by the Soviet Government in an attempt to annihilate the Ukrainian nation. Seven to ten million Ukrainians died of starvation during the genocidal famine."
But those who came and remained in America not only found the religious freedom they had sought, but prospered and lived to see their children and grandchildren become educated and free to succeed wherever their talents and interests led them.
Information – McHenry County Its History And Its People 1885-1985 (pages 35 & 36)
Converted by German Baptists, seven Ukrainian families sold prosperous farms in the Ukraine in 1898 and made a 17-day ocean crossing to Philadelphia, seeking freedom of worship. They found shelter for the winter with German Baptists at Tripps, South Dakota.
On April 26, 1899, they started out on another 17-day journey, this one by covered wagon to Harvey. Aided by Rev. Alexander Nikolaus, who became their first pastor, they moved farther west, took homesteads, and suffered the famine and other difficulties of pioneers.
They organized the Liberty Baptist Church on April 4, 1901, at a meeting in the sod house of John Wash, several miles from Kief. In 1902 they constructed a church building, which was renamed in the late 1930's when it was moved two miles east Into Kief for the comfort of the older parishioners in town. In early times Rev. John Buckmelder came from Max once or twice a month to preach. The 16 by 32-foot structure was the first Russian Baptist Church in the United States! It is still in use.
When the church celebrated its Jubilee in 1972, the sixth generation of settlers participated in hymns, prayers and Bible reading in Russian, German, and English. Rev. A.W. Bibelheimer, former pastor, took part in the program along with Rev. Ernest Lautt, the current pastor.
In the services the families recalled the early church: overflow crowds at early services; meals of oatmeal or thin soup; families walking three miles to church carrying their children in order to spare the horses during heavy work periods. The horses after all, had worked all week!
The early settlers Included Alexandra Galamaga and her son-in-law and daughter Nick and Carrie Spichke. William and Ellen Sukumlyn who homesteaded two miles west of Kief in 1901, also were early settlers. In 1898 Anton Bokovoy homesteaded the land on which Kief began in 1906.
Kief was Incorporated in 1908 and had more than three hundred residents in 1918. It Included five churches, Mennonite, Lutheran, Adventist, and German and Russian Baptist, four general stores, four elevators, a bowling alley and many other businesses. Sam Parpenko, who operated a store there from 1929 until It burned in January 1981, recalled his parents homesteaded in 1889 and his father, Mike, walked to Balfour for groceries.
The school, built in 1910 and operated until 1959, once boasted 128 youngsters in grade school and in 1921 there were 44 high school students.
Mrs. Philip Spichke, whose parents, Peter and Dorothy Donelenko and grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Fred Simbalenko came in 1889, recalled that early church services were lengthy and joyful. "None of those early settlers had seminary training, but when they gathered in the homes they would speak and sing until the early morning hours."
Philip Spichke recalled that, "In the beginning there were no chairs, so the men stood on one side and the women on the other." Those early services in the Ukrainian language began at 11:00 and lasted until 1 or 1:30.
Philip Spichke noted a couple of Ukrainians settled here before 1900. Germans and Norwegians had settled the northern end of Land Township so when more Ukrainians came in, they settled a strip five or six miles wide and then west through Ruso and Benedict to Max. Some of these settlers were those who had lived for a time in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They came with freight cars and horses in many cases, but most of the Ukrainians were like Philip's father, arriving with a little hand luggage and almost no money. His father had $30 in U.S. funds!
The Soo Line had a land office at Balfour and land spotters would accompany the new Immigrants out to the land and drop them off. A tiny sod house on the prairie was the dropping off point.
Area ranchers brought horses in to sell to the newly arrived Russians. The elder Spichke, like many of the Ukrainians, bought a cow from H.R.W. Bentley, the first area postmaster who had settled here in 1889 just east of Brush Lake now Lake Bentley. Mr. Bentley who ran a small store, extended credit for groceries and other things to the Ukrainians, Mrs. Spichke recalled gratefully. Very little was purchased. Bread and potatoes were the food staples. She recalled her mother would take the horse and stone boat to travel to Bentley to buy flour, sugar, syrup and occasionally some rice and tea. Philip Spichke remembers that a welcome addition was the
eggs from ducks and goose nests around the big slough west of his farm, where the boys herded cows and horses.
Philip talked about their family's first home. Made of sod, it had rafters of wood cut mostly along the Mouse River, with grass for thatch over that. The walls were about two feet thick, but it had a very low door, so one had to bend over to enter. Once the house was built, the settlers dug for clay which they plastered inside and out on the walls, thus keeping any dirt from the sod walls and roof from drifting down on the occupants. And each Saturday after the floor was thoroughly swept, new clay was rubbed over it and his mother spread it with sweet-smelling newly cut grass.
Those fortunate enough to be settled already often had newly arrived friends and relatives bunking with them for half a year at a time while other quarters were put up.
The Spichkes had a stove of clay and rock about four feet wide and five feet tall. Philip recalled sleeping on top of it. It was lined with small stones to hold the heat and had a small trap door in front. Hay, straw, and any bits of wood which could be found were burned to heat it and make a bed of ashes. Then food was put in to cook in the heated interior.
Some of the Ukrainians had lived elsewhere in the United States for a time, including Ann Spichke's father who had worked for a year in a Philadelphia overall factory. However, few spoke English, though several, including John Wash, took Americanized names. Mr. Horbenko was often called upon to Interpret since he had spent two or three years in the United States prior to arriving in McHenry County.
School, therefore, was especially important. The first classes were held in the home of a widow, Mrs. Moses. Philip Spichke remembered his first teacher holding up a picture of an apple and saying its English name. An interpreter was needed in 1907 when the first school was built just south of Spichke's farm. Mr. Spichke also sought an interpreter when he filed on his land in Fessenden, after walking there barefoot along the railroad tracks to save shoe leather.
Lack of English did not prevent the Ukrainians from working, however. Many of the men went all the way to Cathay to thresh after they had wagons and other implements, and the additional income was most welcome.
Over the years the Ukrainian colony year at a time while other quarters were put up. The Spichkes had a stove of clay and rock about four feet wide and five feet tall. Philip from Kief to Max thrived and grew. And it spread across the Missouri River to Killdeer and Watford City. The colonists for the most part prospered, and some became wealthy. Others, of course, who had poorer land, were not so fortunate, and when Canada opened land for homesteading in about 1912, a number of them went to Saskatchewan. After the first World War some went to Chicago, Detroit and other eastern cities, and during the depression many went to the Pacific Coast.
There were those, of course, who yearned for their fatherland and after several years in Dakota they returned to the Ukraine, some to visit, but other remained there. The fate of those who remained Is told in the fascinating book, Pilgrims of the Prairie by Andrew Dubovy, translated and edited by Marie Halun Bloch and contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lakoduk:
"But later they all perished there of famine inspite of the fact that they took a great amount of money with them. The famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine (was) artificially created by the Soviet Government in an attempt to annihilate the Ukrainian nation. Seven to ten million Ukrainians died of starvation during the genocidal famine."
But those who came and remained in America not only found the religious freedom they had sought, but prospered and lived to see their children and grandchildren become educated and free to succeed wherever their talents and interests led them.
Information – McHenry County Its History And Its People 1885-1985 (pages 35 & 36)