Volume 16 , Issue 13

1912 - Kate Barnard In Arizona

It was in an article published 7 June 1912, in The Daily Ardmoreite, concerning a story of Oklahoma's Guardian Angel, Kate Barnard. The headlines read: Kate Barnard In Arizona.

It seems Miss Kate Barnard, the guardian angel of the orphan children of the state of Oklahoma, was a guest of Mrs. Sims, the prison superintendents wife, in Arizona. While there sojourning to regal her health, which had been shattered by the arduous work in caring for the orphans of her stye, she labored amongst the inmates of the prison for their reformation.

It began on one occasion in Arizona when Miss Barnard took L. V. Eytinge with her to the Catholic church at Florence. No armed guard accompanied her. After attending the church, she returned him tot he prison. The heathen press set up reverberating from Phoenix to Douglas. They heaped slander upon the head of Miss Barnard for attempting a little missionary work in Arizona.

Of course these reports of slander could not hurt the good name of Miss Barnard, for she was known by the great work that she had done from ocean to ocean. All the truly great men and women in America knew and loved Miss Kate Barnard.

In a letter written by J. J. Sanders, he wrote, "The application of the broad and humane principles of Christianity in the treatment of the inmates of the Arizona State Prison, by the present prison officials has caused the unchristian and heathen press of central and southern Arizona to have some very dreadful nightmares. The mere mention of the word reform gives them the creeps, even when applied to the regeneration of the convict. That great and grand moral philosophy for the guidance of the conduct of mankind laid down by the Nazarene has never been accepted by the heathen and unbelievers."

Sanders also stated, "The editors of these papers were all heathens; they had never done a Christian act in their whole lives."   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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