John and Edith Kilbuck facts for kids

John Henry Kilbuck (born 1861, died 1922) and his wife, Edith Kilbuck (born 1865, died 1933), were important missionaries from the Moravian Church. They worked in southwestern Alaska during the late 1800s and early 1900s. John Kilbuck was special because he was the first Lenape person to become a Moravian minister. They helped the Yup'ik people, used the Yup'ik language in church, and supported creating a way to write the Yup'ik language.

John was the great-grandson of a Lenape chief named Gelelemend. This chief signed the Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778. This was the first treaty between Native Americans and the newly formed United States. John was born in Kansas and studied with the Moravians in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Edith was also from Kansas, and her family were Moravian missionaries too.

Early Life and Education

John Kilbuck was born on May 15, 1861, in Franklin County, Kansas. He was part of the Christian Munsee group of the Lenape (Delaware) people. His mother was from the Mahican tribe, which is related to the Lenape. Through his father, John was the great-grandson of the Lenape chief, Gelelemend. Chief Gelelemend was the first Native American to sign a treaty with the United States.

The Lenape people traditionally followed a matrilineal system. This means that family lines and inheritance were traced through the mother's side of the family.

Many Munsee people had to move from Ohio and Indiana to Kansas by 1821. They were forced out by settlers and the United States government. The government wanted to move all Native Americans from east of the Mississippi River. Moravian missionaries in Kansas noticed that John Kilbuck was a very smart young man. They encouraged him to go to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for his education. He first went to the Nazareth Boys’ School. Later, he attended the Moravian College and Seminary. In 1884, John Kilbuck became the first Lenape person to be ordained as a Moravian minister.

Edith Romig was born on April 16, 1865, also in Franklin County, Kansas. Her father, Joseph Romig, was a Moravian minister working with the Munsee people in Ottawa, Kansas. Edith's grandparents were also missionaries. Both her father and grandparents kept important records about the Munsee people. Edith Romig was teaching at the mission school when she met John Kilbuck. She was 19 years old when he returned to Kansas.

Marriage and Family Life

In 1885, John Henry Kilbuck, who was 23, and Edith Romig, who was 19, got married. A few years before, while John was still studying, Sheldon Jackson had asked the Moravian Church to send missionaries to Alaska.

In 1885, the Kilbucks and another missionary couple, William and Mrs. Weinland, traveled to Alaska. They went with Hans Torgersen to start the first Moravian mission station. They named it Bethel. Today, Bethel is an important city along the Kuskokwim River.

The Kilbucks worked as missionaries and teachers in Alaska for most of their lives. They had four children, all born at the Bethel Mission. Their children were Katherine Henry (born 1886), William Henry (born 1887), Joseph Henry (born 1889), and Ruth Henry (born 1891). All four children had the middle name "Henry." This was to honor Major William Henry, who saved their ancestor, Chief Gelelemend, in 1775. The children spent their early years in Alaska. Then, they attended Moravian schools in North Carolina.

Missionary Work in Alaska

The Kilbucks were part of the first group of missionaries to Alaska. They helped set up the mission at what became Bethel. They spent their adult lives in southwestern Alaska, working as missionaries and teachers among the Yup'ik people. In 1896, Edith's younger brother, Joseph H. Romig, and his wife, Ella, joined them.

The Kilbucks were very important missionaries around the year 1900. They quickly learned the Yup'ik language. John Kilbuck decided to do his missionary work in existing Yup'ik villages. He did not create separate mission stations, as had been done in other places like Greenland and Labrador. He made Yup'ik the language used in the Moravian Church in Alaska. This policy is still followed today in Yup'ik-speaking areas.

The diaries written by the Kilbucks tell us a lot about Yup'ik life in the late 1800s. The Kilbuck Mountain Range in southwestern Alaska is named after them.

Another missionary, Reverend John Hinz, started translating religious texts into Yup'ik. He wrote them using Roman (English) letters. Uyaquq, a local Yup'ik helper who later became a missionary, translated some of these texts into Yup'ik using a writing system he created. Hinz and the Kilbucks supported both of these efforts. The Hinz writing system was used for Yup'ik until about 1970. After that, a new system was developed by Yup'ik speakers and linguists at the University of Alaska.

John Henry Kilbuck passed away in 1922 in Akiak, Alaska. Edith died in 1933.

Legacy and Honors

• The Kilbuck Family Scholarship for Native Americans helps Native American college students from Alaska or Oregon.
• The diaries and letters of John and Edith Kilbuck give us much information about Yup'ik life in the late 19th century. This information might not be available otherwise.
• The book, The Real People and the Children of Thunder by Ann Fienup-Riordan, is about their work and the Yup'ik people.
• The Kilbuck Mountain range and the Kilbuck Elementary School in Bethel, Alaska, are named in their honor.