On a blink-and-you-miss-it spot along U.S. Highway 50 in Stafford County, there is a cemetery marking a pioneering past that most Kansans may not know about.
The Martin Cemetery is an all-Black cemetery that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A white vinyl fence surrounds the cemetery, which contains the graves of about 20 Exodusters.
“I found out I had relatives buried in St. John two years ago, which I was actually really surprised because I had no idea,” said Lamont Bowen of Wichita, who is researching his family history.
“What Exoduster means to me, from what I read about … some of them were prior slaves in the South. And during Emancipation Proclamation, they were freed.”
Indeed, some of Bowen’s ancestors were members of a mass migration often referred to as Exodusters, a term that stems from the biblical story about the Exodus of Israelites from Egypt.
Beginning in the mid- to late 1870s, as support for Reconstruction following the Civil War began to dissipate, African Americans left the deep South in droves to find better lives on the Western frontier.
The Exodusters marked one of the most remarkable migrations in the United States. With the exception of Nicodemus, one of the few remaining Kansas African American communities founded after the Civil War, the history of Black settlement has been largely ignored in Kansas history.
In Stafford County, there were 35 to 40 Exoduster families that settled on the sandy soils of there. But why Stafford County?
“Possibly because it was fertile land, number one,” Bowen said. “And then, it’s kind of secluded out there in the prairie, like in the middle-of-nowhere.
“And maybe that’s what they were looking for … some seclusion, especially coming out of slavery.”
Bowen’s ancestors settled across the highway from the cemetery. Two years ago, Bowen returned to the cemetery.
“It was a deep, heartfelt feeling, especially knowing the history and … some of the things that happened there,” he said.
“From what I understand … there was a Klan rally there at some point … I’m sure there were issues there in terms of … them being afraid, protecting their family, their kids, their livestock. So that would be, in my opinion, one of the reasons why they moved away.”
While in Stafford County, Bowen discovered part of a brick that may have been used in the construction of his family’s house.
“They were building houses, raising families, building churches,” he said. “You know, they were very resilient people … I’m extremely proud of what they did, which also kind of motivates me to realize that I’ve got more in me to give than what I’ve given.”
For some, it may just be a cemetery only feet from a major highway, where the only sounds are the swish of cars and trucks passing, never stopping.
But for Bowen, it’s a place where the Exoduster legacy lives on.
This story originally aired on KMUW's weekly show "The Range" as part of its Hidden Kansas series.
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