Reverend Paul Charles Burhans
Rev. Paul Charles Burhans
March 5, 1914 – March 5, 1915, Assistant Pastor for Dr. R. J. Briggs.
Paul Charles Burhans was born October 19, 1856 in Burlington, Des Moines, Iowa, to Denzlow and Clara Cornich Cornick Burhans. On April 1, 1878, a Free Methodist Church was organized in Des Moines County, Iowa. There were about fifty members. E. Osborn, William Boger, E. P. Kyle and P. C Burhans, were the first and present Stewards. They rented the church-building formerly occupied by the South Hill Baptist Society, where they were worshing in 1879 as reported in History of Des Moines County, Iowa, published 1879.
Burhans married Mary Eliza "Katie" Lamphere (Lamphare?) (1865-1952) on March 24, 1880, in McHenry, Illinois. They had five children, Arnos D (1881–1952), Adelbert Charles (1883–1953), Ethel Mae (1885–1905), Paul Bird (1890–1967) and Nellie S. (maybe Helen Louis (1900–?). In 1886, he served as pastor of the Congregational Church in Sedgwick, Kansas.
Rev. Burhans was ordained in Seward, Nebraska in October 1886.
In 1895, P. C. Burhans wrote the following letter which appeared in the 1895 Church Building Quarterly of the Congregational Church Building Society. Burhans served as American Missionary Society Secretary for the Oklahoma Territory. At the time of this photo his children would have been Arnos (14), Charles (12), Ethel (10) and Paul (5). My id: left to right, Amos D., Paul Bird, Ethel Mae, Rev. Paul Charles Burhans, and Charles on the horse with the blazed face. There is a white patter in the doorway that could be an apron on Mary Eliza Burhans.
In August, 1889, Rev. Sheldon A. Harris accepted a call to the pastorate, and did valuable service until 1892. Rev. Paul C. Burhans accceped the call of the Church and began labor July, 1892. The Church, by heroic and persistent effort, had just paid the last of the $500 borrowed from the Building Society, when both the church building and the parsonage were destroyed by fire, Sunday, September.
Sometime around 1890, "Paul C. Burhans became pastor. During his pastorate, a suitable church edifice was erected, with a seating capacity of about three hundred. This building was dedicated April 26,1891", excerpt from History of the Congregational Association of Southern Ilinois by George R. Parrish, 1896. It is likely this church was in Centralia, IL. In 1898, he was elected to the Home Missionary Committee for Wichita, Kansas. In 1900, he was pastor of Congregational Church in Seward, Nebraska. He ran for Congress in that year garnering 700 votes out of 42,167 cast.
In 1901, he was the pastor of the church at Sykeston, North Dakota.
In 1903, his church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin through him a birthday party.
In 1907, Rev. Burhans supplied the church in Phoenix, North Dakota. He was Postmaster for Burliegh County, ND.
In 1908, he was appointed pastor in Glendive, Montana.
In 1909, he was pastor of Congregational Church in Miles City, Montana. Again as the attached newspaper article at right reveals, he was the driving force for the eonstruction of the new church in Miles City. He was also an inventor.
Another of Rev. Burhans is shown below. It has features similar to the Wankel engine that Mazda used for a while.
In 1912, Rev. Burhans is living in Helena, Montana.
In 1914, Rev. Burhans accepted the associate pastorship at the Congregational Church of Austin. He served under Dr. R. J. Briggs who was in ill-health. His sermons were very popular, many appearing the Austin Statesman. Shortly after arriving in Austin, he attended a luncheon in support of women's suffrage. The high regard that the church felt for him is evident in the newspaper article below. He left after a year and went to Palestine, Texas.
New Life in Palestine
PALESTINE. Rev. P. C. Burhans came to this church In April, 1915, and has done splendid work. The church was for many months pastorless, audiences had dropped to a handful and the members were discouraged. A strong evangelistic campaign was conducted in the summer with the use of a tent. a good number of conversions resulted. and the life of the church quickened. Stcreopticon lectures have been given. and earnest work has resulted in an attendance reaching 225. while the average for the last quarter was 115. On several oecaslons the Sunday school has registered 120. Old members are coming back to the church, and new hopefulness and expects- tion have come into the minds of the people. The greatest dilllculty for Palestine church was a poor location. near the railroad. But now one of the tlnest corner lots for church purposes in the city has been purchased, and through the generous assistance of two men, Texas Congregationalists. one in Austin and one in Dallas. a clear title for this lot, which cost over $11.000. is in the hands of the trustees of the church. The entire value of the present property may now, therefore, be turned to the acqulrernent of a new building, and the prospects of this central church of East Texas. under the able leadership of Mr. Burhans. is one of the brightest and largest of anything in this part of the state.
From 1920–1924, he was pastor of Peoples Congregational Church in Sanford, Florida. His son, Paul, and his wife, Edna, were with him. Acording to Larry Bedenbaugh, Peoples Congregational was orgamozed in 1890. Rev. Burhans and his family may have been the first occupant of the church's new parsonage. The church is now Grace Fellowship Congregational Church.
He died in June 24, 1934. He is buried in Fort Myers Cemetery, Fort Myers, Lee County, Florida, USA
