Citywide Prayer Network - Black History

African American History of Lee's Summit

Little is known about the African American history of Lee’s Summit. Before the Civil War, settlers in the area owned slaves, and some of the founders of the city of Lee’s Summit were slave owners. Since so little is known of the pre-Civil War years, the following is a brief overview of African American history in Missouri, in particular as it relates to the American Missionary Association (A.M.A.).

The American Missionary Association originated in 1846 as a response to the silence of Northern churches on the issue of slavery. Its focus was to preach against slavery. To this end, missionaries were sent to the border states where they preached and taught against slavery, as well as circulated literature, in an effort to convince slaveholders of its injustice and evils. In 1858, Reverend W. Kendrick was the first A.M.A. missionary sent to Missouri, where he lived and preached in the northern part of the state. Reverend Kendrick believed that Missouri engaged in slavery in its mildest form. Still, the A.M.A. found that many Missourians, although against slavery, did not believe in the equality of blacks and whites, and A.M.A. missionaries were often met with prejudice and opposition as they preached and taught throughout the state.

Slaves in the Lee’s Summit area were placed in a peculiar position. Many of those who owned slaves in the area before the Civil War were from states such as Tennessee and Kentucky, where slavery was more common. Often slaves were treated as family members, so when the war began, many of those slaves remained loyal to their owners, continuing to live with and serve them. Sadly, these slaves many times were killed along with their masters if found by Union forces. Others were either freedmen or slaves who had escaped, and they traveled to Kansas to join the Union troops there.

As the Civil War broke out, the A.M.A. began to answer the need for educating freed slaves. By 1862, it had changed its main focus from converting slaveholders to educating freedmen. A.M.A. missionaries and teachers were sent to follow Union troops. In Missouri, the A.M.A. first sent a missionary for educational purposes to St. Louis in 1862, and by 1865, it had sent three teachers and one missionary to Kansas City. The war brought about the emancipation of approximately 115,000 slaves in Missouri, the majority of whom had had little or no education. But the freed slaves proved to have great determination and perseverance. Most freedmen were eager to learn, and the A.M.A. became the most important of many educational organizations that arose after the emancipation.

After the Civil War, William B. Howard founded what is now Lee’s Summit, and gave land as a gift to all of the churches in town, to both black and white citizens. The African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church has been in Lee’s Summit for over one hundred years. It is not known whether the A.M.E. church was in Lee’s Summit at the town’s beginning; an early presence of the A.M.E. church would have made it the recipient of land from Howard.

After the Civil War, there were a few black families who lived in Lee’s Summit, presumably freed slaves. Because of segregation, their children were not allowed to attend public school with the white children, and the town’s leadership had determined there were not enough black children to warrant building them a separate school. As a result, these children were driven to Pleasant Hill to go to school each day. Some children were even driven as far as Independence to attend school.

It is believed that in the 1920s various citizens of Lee’s Summit were involved in the Ku Klux Klan. By the 1930s, however, the KKK lost many of its members in the town when they became disillusioned by the escalation of prejudice and hatred into acts of violence.

Two of the more well known black men of Lee’s Summit were William “Feather Bed” Johnson and Reverend Lewis. Both men exhibited the entrepreneurial spirit of the area. Feather Bed Johnson lived around 1900. He owned a small farm and stuffed feather blankets as one of his businesses. Feather Bed is described as having never met a stranger, and was well-known for miles around Kansas City. Reverend Lewis and his wife lived in Lee’s Summit during the mid-1900s. He did not pastor a congregation in the city, but was a preacher. He had a lawn care business, and was known for wearing his suit while he mowed lawns. During the 1960’s, it is believed that the Reverend received some sort of threat on his life, as he abruptly moved to Kansas City, leaving his home with everything in it. Just a few years ago, the Lee’s Summit Historical Society held a Christmas dinner where he was the guest of honor.

African Americans have brought a rich heritage to Lee’s Summit. Those who were freedmen after the Civil War left a legacy of an eagerness to learn, perseverance and determination to succeed. This determination continued as families found ways for their children to attend school even in the midst of segregation and prejudice. Resilient and hard working, the African American community in Lee’s Summit has worked in business and walked in entrepreneurialship. Those in the A.M.E. Church have been excellent citizens of Lee’s Summit for over one hundred years.

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Prayer for the African Americans of Lee's Summit

Father God, we acknowledge and confess before You the sins committed in Lee’s Summit against our African American brothers and sisters. We confess the slavery, prejudice, violence and segregation done by our forefathers and ask Your forgiveness for them, for ourselves, and for this land (Daniel 9:5-20). We ask that the powerful blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ, would cover the land of Lee’s Summit, and cleanse us from our sin. Lord, we thank You for the perseverance, hard work, and entrepreneurialship of African Americans in this area. We ask for love in place of prejudice, and a unity in Your church throughout all the ethnicities represented here in Lee’s Summit. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Lord, teach us to love.

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African American History of Lee's Summit

Prayer for the African Americans of Lee's Summit