Antonino | Catharine | Czech Colony | Ellis | Emmeram | Hartsook/Herzog | Hays | Munjor | Pfeifer | Schoenchen | Turkville | Victoria | Vincent | Walker | Yocemento
Volga Germans
Fort Hays
Other Colonies
Homesteading in Ellis County
Munjor
Settlers from part of the largest group to emigrate from Russia were founders of the town of Munjor after arriving in Herzog from New York in August 1876. They went to a site along Big Creek just north of the present location of Munjor, which they moved to a couple of months later. Several more groups joined them over the next couple of years, with the last group coming in September 1878.
Munjor's first church was a frame structure built in 1877, and it was added onto several years later. The frame church was replaced in 1889 by the present stone building, which was dedicated on Trinity Sunday of 1890. It has been enlarged over the years, but it has also been damaged by fire and the elements of nature. The steeple that was originally on the church was damaged, and has not been replaced.
A parochial school building was also built in the late 1880's, and was used in the past by USD 489 of Hays as part of its district.
St. Francis Church with steeple
St. Francis Church
Sanctuary of St. Francis Church
Nave and Sanctuary of St. Francis Church
Sources
Color pictures taken by Patty Nicholas, archivist
Dreiling, Norbert R. "Official Centennial History of the Volga-German Settlements in Ellis and Rush Counties of Kansas, 1878-1976." Hays, KS: Volga German Centennial Association, 1976.
Dreiling, B. M."Golden jubilee of the German-Russian settlements of Ellis and Rush Counties, Kansas, August 31, September 1 and 2, 1926." Hays, KS: Hays Daily News, 1926.