"Black Settlers Sought an end to Injustice Pamela Martin This information is generously provided to the Louisiana Genealogy Project by the Editors of the Pratt Tribune of Missouri- http://www.pratttribune.com ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** * People seeking an area free from religious persecution founded St. John in 1879. Before they reached this area, however, there was already a settlement of farmers south of St. John who had arrived seeking land, an end to persecution and a new start. Cosa Mae Vaughn was in St. John recently, attending the United Methodist Women's meeting as a member of the executive board. She took a few moments after the meeting to relate her family's history and that of the almost 300 African Americans who called the St. John area home in the early part of this century. Cosa Mae's great-grandparents, John and Julia Scott, were in that first group of people who ended up in Stafford county seeking land and a chance to start over. John and Julia were both ex-slaves, Cosa Mae said. John, who was a minister, was kind of a rebel, Cosa Mae related, As a slave, John was beaten and shot because he refused to beat a fellow slave. "They told him to beat another slave and he wouldn't, so they beat him," Cosa Mae said. After the civil war, the family faced other dangers. The clan [Ku Klux Klan] came to John Scott's place, seeking him. The family LEFT LOUISIANA the next morning with the clothes on their backs, leaving behind two of their adult children, whom they never saw again. They took a wagon train from Indiana to Salina, fording the Arkansas river. Some of the group stayed in Salina, others stayed in Little river and Lyons. Cosa Mae's grandparents walked from Salina to St. John, staking a claim south of St. John near the intersection of U.S. Highways 281 and 50. The Kerns, Martins, Stewarts and Bowens homesteaded in that same area. In 1870, there was not a whole lot in Stafford County. The family lived in a dugout and picked up cow chips for fuel. Cosa Mae said her mother, Leona Martin, used to talk about living in the dugout and how much she hated hunting for cow chips. When the wind blew the sand and dust into the house, sacks were soaked in water and hung over the windows but it offered little relief. It was still hard to breathe. John and Julia had three children after arriving in Stafford County, a set of twins, Elsie and Leala, and Leona, Cosa mae's mother. Leona was born in 1893. Of 17 children, 10 lived to adulthood. Life was hard in early Stafford County. But it was better than what they had left. "They were so happy to be here," Cosa Mae said. "They struggled but it was better than what they had." The one reason they came to Kansas was to get land, Cosa Mae explained. They wanted to farm for themselves. And they did, raising their family and sending the children to school in St. John. Cosa Mae's mother and Aunt Elsie both attended the non-segregated school in St. John. For a short time there were two African American churches in St. John. A small Baptist church, which did not last long and the little church south of town. Cosa Mae's Uncle George was a cowboy. Family history states he took care of Bat Masterson's horses while in Dodge City. Her Aunt Lee was a minister who served as pastor to several churches of the African Methodist Episcopal faith. Leona, Cosa Mae's mother, met her husband, Benjamin Rowlands, when he arrived in town working on the railroad. They married in 1915, moved to sterling and had 14 children, one of which did not survive. "I have fond memories of St. John," Cosa Mae said. "We spent part of every summer vacation in St. John." Cosa Mae's Uncle Bob would arrive in the Model T to transport them from Sterling to St. John. He always ran out of water or had a flat tire, Cosa Mae said with a smile. She remembered the Lickiss Bakery, the flowers in the square, and the goldfish in the fountain. They got to be very big, she related. Paul Rowlands, Cosa Mae's youngest brother who now resides in Hutchinson, remembers the "Homecoming" held every Memorial day. "All the black families would gather in the north corner of the square," Paul remembered. They would bring picnic food and share. Then in the evening they would have a group sing. "Dad worked at the elevator in Sterling and they would let him borrow a truck. We all rode in the back down to St. John." Paul was the youngest of the children. Reflecting back, he said he remembered his brother going to WW II and the homecomings as taking place from about 1943 to 1951. Leona Martin's children are now scattered throughout the western part of the United States. A reunion, held every two years, moves to different location, wherever the siblings are located. But memories of their early years in Kansas remain, when their families succeeded in making a new life in a new land.