Belleville Community

K-178

William Saunders Crowdy (1847-1908), who escaped enslavement during the Civil War, established the Church of God and Saints of Christ, a now predominantly African American Judaic community, in Kansas in 1896. He purchased 40 acres here in 1903 that later formed the nucleus of Belleville, which emerged in the 1920s. Expanding to more than 700 acres at its peak, this self-sufficient community featured a sacred tabernacle, farms, a school, a home for widows and orphans, stores, an electric plant, a music hall, and athletic facilities. In 1919 the site became the international headquarters of the Church of God and Saints of Christ, which has members and missions in the U.S., Jamaica, and Africa.

Department of Historic Resources, 2023

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Beersheba Crowdy Walker, Life and Works of William Saunders Crowdy (Philadelphia: Elfreth J. P. Walker, 1955). Phyllis Speidell, “Belleville Celebrates a Century,” Suffolk Living, vol. 12, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 2021). The History of the Church of God and Saints of Christ, vol. 1 (1847-1908) and vol. 2 (1908-1996) (Belleville, VA, 1992 and 1996). James E. Landing, Black Judaism: Story of an American Movement (Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2002). Jacob S. Dorman, Chosen People: The Rise of American Black Israelite Religions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).