The Dunkards Church
Located in Section twelve (12), Norman Township
1st St SE & 150th Ave SE
The cook house from Farm No. 7 was moved to a site eight miles south and 1 mile west of Mayville.
Mayville, Traill County, North Dakota 58257
Located in Section twelve (12), Norman Township
1st St SE & 150th Ave SE
The cook house from Farm No. 7 was moved to a site eight miles south and 1 mile west of Mayville.
Mayville, Traill County, North Dakota 58257
The Dunkards
After several years of big scale farming, the Grandins decided to sell some of their vast land holdings to individual farmers. They made a trip to Illinois where they visited several families of a sect called Dunkards. These people became interested in coming to North Dakota as there already were Dunkard settlements in the state.
In the spring of 1886, about twelve Dunkard families from Illinois came to new homes located south of Mayville. They brought with them their cattle, horses, and household goods, and farming machinery, traveling as far as Blanchard on the Great Northern. These new farmers were dressed like Quakers, the men wearing large black hats, the women wearing bonnets. Blanchard township became the home of most of these settlers where Grandin Farm No. 7 was divided into smaller farms. Two families settled in Mayville township, one of them Nan Bobb, whose sister married Archie Gwinn, a baker in Mayville. J. L. Shobe, who lived near Clifford became the husband of Randy Kleveland. Only one family, the B. F. Letherman's, settled north of Mayville. Elmer Letherman married Aletta Homstad, a Mayville girl. They stayed on when the other Dunkard families left the community.
The Dunkards were a religious people. They followed the teachings of the Bible strictly and literally, allowing no variations in the words of the text. They lived simple, devout lives.
Reverence for God and his divine will was uppermost in their lives. There was no room for pretense or show, either in their dress or mode of living. Their ministers were instruments of God, praying for the sick, anointing them and laying on hands. They believed in baptism by immersion and a branch of the Elm River was the scene of this baptism. They also practiced the ceremony of washing one another's feet as done by Jesus and recorded in the Gospel of John.
Because of their deeply religious character, a church of their own was a necessity to them. The Grandins helped them in this. The cook house from Farm No. 7 was moved to a site eight miles south and 1 mile west of Mayville. With a little remodeling, the Grandin cook house became the Dunkards new church.
These peace-loving people were trustworthy and kind. Friendly and helpful, they were desirable settlers. For several years the Dunkards farmed and worshipped in this peaceful settlement. Suddenly a big change came. On July 4, 1907, a tornado struck which so completely demolished their church that there was no hope of repairing it. Soon after, the settlement broke up and the Dunkards left for new homes in Canada. One of their pastors, Rev. Swihart, is the only one of his people buried in the Mayville Cemetery.
Information - Mayville Diamond Jubilee 1881 - 1956; Transcribed by Fred Coleman
After several years of big scale farming, the Grandins decided to sell some of their vast land holdings to individual farmers. They made a trip to Illinois where they visited several families of a sect called Dunkards. These people became interested in coming to North Dakota as there already were Dunkard settlements in the state.
In the spring of 1886, about twelve Dunkard families from Illinois came to new homes located south of Mayville. They brought with them their cattle, horses, and household goods, and farming machinery, traveling as far as Blanchard on the Great Northern. These new farmers were dressed like Quakers, the men wearing large black hats, the women wearing bonnets. Blanchard township became the home of most of these settlers where Grandin Farm No. 7 was divided into smaller farms. Two families settled in Mayville township, one of them Nan Bobb, whose sister married Archie Gwinn, a baker in Mayville. J. L. Shobe, who lived near Clifford became the husband of Randy Kleveland. Only one family, the B. F. Letherman's, settled north of Mayville. Elmer Letherman married Aletta Homstad, a Mayville girl. They stayed on when the other Dunkard families left the community.
The Dunkards were a religious people. They followed the teachings of the Bible strictly and literally, allowing no variations in the words of the text. They lived simple, devout lives.
Reverence for God and his divine will was uppermost in their lives. There was no room for pretense or show, either in their dress or mode of living. Their ministers were instruments of God, praying for the sick, anointing them and laying on hands. They believed in baptism by immersion and a branch of the Elm River was the scene of this baptism. They also practiced the ceremony of washing one another's feet as done by Jesus and recorded in the Gospel of John.
Because of their deeply religious character, a church of their own was a necessity to them. The Grandins helped them in this. The cook house from Farm No. 7 was moved to a site eight miles south and 1 mile west of Mayville. With a little remodeling, the Grandin cook house became the Dunkards new church.
These peace-loving people were trustworthy and kind. Friendly and helpful, they were desirable settlers. For several years the Dunkards farmed and worshipped in this peaceful settlement. Suddenly a big change came. On July 4, 1907, a tornado struck which so completely demolished their church that there was no hope of repairing it. Soon after, the settlement broke up and the Dunkards left for new homes in Canada. One of their pastors, Rev. Swihart, is the only one of his people buried in the Mayville Cemetery.
Information - Mayville Diamond Jubilee 1881 - 1956; Transcribed by Fred Coleman
Dunkard Church
Dunkards settle in Traill in 1885 Norman Township, North Dakota
Through Grandin and Edwards, a real estate firm owning large tracts of land in Traill County, a colony of Dunkards was brought to the county in the Spring of 1885. At that time Grandin and Edwards had decided to break up the large farms and place them in the hands of individual owners, selling to them on the crop payment plan, a means by which they could operate and gradually pay for their homes.
There were fifteen families in the colony, most of them from Indiana, They were settled on farms south and southwest of Mayville.
With the aid of Grandin and Edwards, a Dunkard Church was built for them. It was located on Section 12 in Norman Township.
The families lived on their farms for several years, but it appears they did not care to make Traill County their permanent home and in about fifteen years all were gone; most of them move to Canada.
Info from – Traill County History Vol II (page 27)
Dunkards settle in Traill in 1885 Norman Township, North Dakota
Through Grandin and Edwards, a real estate firm owning large tracts of land in Traill County, a colony of Dunkards was brought to the county in the Spring of 1885. At that time Grandin and Edwards had decided to break up the large farms and place them in the hands of individual owners, selling to them on the crop payment plan, a means by which they could operate and gradually pay for their homes.
There were fifteen families in the colony, most of them from Indiana, They were settled on farms south and southwest of Mayville.
With the aid of Grandin and Edwards, a Dunkard Church was built for them. It was located on Section 12 in Norman Township.
The families lived on their farms for several years, but it appears they did not care to make Traill County their permanent home and in about fifteen years all were gone; most of them move to Canada.
Info from – Traill County History Vol II (page 27)