Butler County Genealogy Trails Kansas Rev. Isaac Mooney Bio

BUTLER COUNTY'S EIGHTY YEARS BIOS

REV. ISAAC MOONEY

(Transcribed by Lori DeWinkler)

During Judge Mooney’s entire residence, he has taken a leading part in constructive movements, serving on committees and contributing generously to church, lodge, progress and any developments looking toward the welfare of the community. He has been a Mason for more than a half century, with membership in Patmos No. 97, A. F. & A. M., El Dorado, and El Dorado Chapter No. 35, R. A. M., together with the El Dorado Commandery, No. 19, Knights Templar, and is a past master of the lodge, past high priest of the chapter and past eminent commander of the commandery. His religious affiliations are with the First Baptist Church. In politics, he has been a consistent Republican throughout his mature life. Judge Mooney’s greatest achievement, however, wrote R. H. Fisher, historian, is his “History of Butler County,” published in 1916. It is probably that no more thorough book of its kind, viewed from every angle, has been written anywhere in America—it is a prized volume in all the standard libraries of this county. He also has written numerous special articles for newspapers and his poems, notably “The Pioneer” and “Chores,” are classics of their character.

He is of Irish and German descent and traces his American ancestry back into earliest periods of the old Northwest territory, into that section now known as the state of Ohio. His great-grandparents were Joseph and Rebecca (Freeman) Mooney, both natives of Ohio. His grandfather was John Mooney, who married Nancy Terry, daughter of Judge Terry of Greenville, Ohio. Of this marriage was born, among their children, Isaac Mooney, at Dayton, Ohio, 1820, who married Eliza Rhodehamel, who became the mother of Judge Mooney. Isaac Mooney was destined to become a pioneer preacher and one of the genuinely beloved men of his generation. His influence, as a man of God in this country during the early period of settlement, merits an entire chapter, but space permits only an outline. Of his character and his accomplishments and services, it is probable that the following, written many years ago by the late J. B. Adams, is most accurately descriptive:

“The first sermon I ever heard preached in my life came from the lips of Rev. Isaac Mooney, and it gave me a favorable impression of the ministry. It was in the little old Diamond Creek school house that stood in what is now the western edge of Potwin. I was about six years of age and it was in the days before churches in northwest Butler. The county was sparsely settled, but neighbors came from distances to hear the sermon, which was the first to be preached in the community for some time. I well remember the particularity with which I was cautioned by my good mother as to my behavior, and my childish curiosity as to what a sermon was like and how a preacher would look. I had heard of preachers, but had never seen one. There were no song books in the neighborhood and the services were conducted without music. Rev. Mr. Mooney did not charge for preaching and ‘a hat’ was not passed. It was the primitive beginning of a religious awakening in the community. Mr. Mooney came up from Towanda about once a month to preach and the ‘neighbors’ all attended, and if Isaac Mooney left the same impress upon others as he did upon me in my early childhood, as he no doubt did, his memory will brighten with an impreshable luster throughout all eternity.”

Isaac Mooney was born in Miami County, Ohio, May 22, 1820. He died at Towanda, Kansas, October 20, 1902. Coming to Kansas in 1869, he purchased from J. R. Mead, the old Indian trader, the land lying south of Main Street, upon with the town of Towanda now stands and homesteaded the land north of Main Street, moving thereon in 1870. In 1872, he platted and laid out the townsite. Mr. Mooney was ordained a preacher in 1843. He never preached for pay. His first sermon in Butler County was preached in June, 1870, and he preached until the time of his death. He was a farmer before coming to Kansas, preaching during the winter season. He married more than 1200 couples during his ministry and held about the same number of funeral services. Elder E. Cameron, of Sycamore Springs, associated for a quarter of a century in church work with Rev. Mr. Mooney preached the sermon at his funeral, which was the largest ever known in this county at that time. An enduring monument to this good man recently has been erected at Towanda by the building of the Mooney Memorial church, a gift to the community by his son-in-law, the late Mike Organ, Jr.