Editing Goessel, Kansas (section)

===19th century===
In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France. In 1803, most of the land for [[History of Kansas|present-day Kansas]] was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000-square-mile [[Louisiana Purchase]] for 2.83 [[Penny (United States coin)|cents]] per [[acre]].

The [[Kansas Territory]] was organized in 1854, and Kansas became the 34th [[U.S. state]] in 1861. In 1855, [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion County]] was established within the [[Kansas Territory]] and included present-day Goessel.<ref name="Marion-Co-History">{{Cite web |url=http://www.marioncoks.net/AboutMarionCounty/History/tabid/7634/Default.aspx |title=The History of Marion County and Courthouse |access-date=2014-04-23 |archive-date=2018-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227021903/http://www.marioncoks.net/AboutMarionCounty/History/tabid/7634/Default.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The year 1874 saw the first wave of an immigration of [[Plautdietsch]]-speaking [[Russian Mennonite#North America|Russian Mennonite]]s to south-central Kansas. The move was an attempt to preserve religious heritage and freedom after exclusion from military service was rescinded. In 1873 twelve Mennonite delegates from the Russian Empire toured [[Manitoba]] and Kansas, with the four conservative Mennonite delegates selecting the [[East Reserve]] in Manitoba and the eight liberal delegates selecting immigration to Kansas. In the next decade, one-third of Mennonites in Russia moved to North America. In 1874 a large number of Mennonites from the [[Molotschna]] Colony emigrated en masse to the United States aboard the ships Teutonia and Cimbria. This group split into two groups. The Alexanderwohl group sailed on the Cimbria and settled around present-day Goessel, and the Hoffnungsau group sailed on the Teutonia and settled around present-day [[Buhler, Kansas|Buhler]] and [[Inman, Kansas|Inman]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tools.bethelks.edu/mennonitelife/pre2000/1949oct.pdf |title=''Hoffnungsau in Kansas''; A.J. Dyck; Mennonite Life; October 1949. |access-date=2013-06-12 |archive-date=2013-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216092225/http://tools.bethelks.edu/mennonitelife/pre2000/1949oct.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Alexanderwohl group split into eight communal [[unincorporated community|village]]s. The village of '''Gnadenfeld''' (translation: Grace Field) was located where Goessel now stands.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tools.bethelks.edu/mennonitelife/pre2000/1949oct.pdf |title=''Alexanderwohl Villages in Kansas, 1874 (map)''; P.U. Schmidt; Mennonite Life; October 1949. |access-date=2013-06-12 |archive-date=2013-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216092225/http://tools.bethelks.edu/mennonitelife/pre2000/1949oct.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The village lasted for several years as a communal village, and then families moved onto their own larger parcels of land nearby. Several years passed before a trading center developed. The first public structure erected in Goessel was the Mennonite Brethren church in 1890, and one of the first businesses was a creamery station established that same year. In 1891 a small mercantile store was opened and Dr. Peter Richert moved into a building that was used as his doctor's office; later it became a post office. Dr. Richert read the story of Captain Kurt von Goessel, who went down with his steamship ''Elbe'' in the English Channel, and decided to submit the name '''Goessel''' to the U.S. Postal Department; the name was accepted on April 13, 1895.<ref name="MarionCountyBook">''Marion County Kansas : Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House; LCCN 72-92041; 344 pages; 1972.</ref>