Boyce Mouton
EnglishEspañol
Letter 518English

Letters From Grandpa #518

Boyce Mouton · 2 pages · 948 words

  • LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
  • 518

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will be about Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” (Proverbs 29:2)

As you know I have been fascinated for many years by the city of Liberal, Missouri. It is only about 35 miles from our home. In fact, I even wrote a book about it. (A link to that book is at the end of this letter)

Liberal was found in 1880 by an atheist named George Henry Walser. He forbade any churches within the city limits and believed that his liberalism would produce a utopia. Here is an ad he distributed widely: “Liberal now has such an impetus that it can smile at the combined powers of priest, preacher, church, saloon, God or hell; and they are the happiest and purest people on earth. The only fit home for liberally disposed persons. Liberal is in a good country, rich in all the needs of life usually found in good countries.” (Address G.H. Walser, Liberal, Barton County Missouri)

  • Walser invested virtually all of his time and money to the success of this adventure.
  • He purchased land at the convergence of the Frisco and Missouri Pacific railroads for $5,560.
  • He started a newspaper and called it “The Liberalite”. He was both owner and editor.
  • He built their first hotel and called it the “Ozark House”.
  • He also built “Catalpa Park” for $40,000. It was a 13 acre plot covered with flowers and ornamental fountains. It featured 20 latticed vine covered pergolas, an artificial lake for swimming in the summer and ice skating in the winter. There were also summer cottages, an excellent boarding house, plus an ice cream and lemonade stand. The majestic “celestial dome” featured three lectures every Sunday. This building was large enough to accommodate 224 square dancers at one time. It was also ideal for band concerts.
  • Walser also started “The Free Thought University” which he vowed would be free from the chains of superstition and mental slavery. It would be untrammeled by Bible, creed, or ism.
  • Instead of a church building, he constructed a hall which he called the “University of Mental Liberty.” This was a place where free thinkers could debate various subjects of interest.
  • He named streets in the city after unbelievers like Ingersoll, Darwin, and Paine.
  • Walser literally bankrupted himself and when he died his total estate was only $1,661.60.

People who not believe in God are often, by definition, ungodly. Liberal was therefore an ideal place for dishonest and immoral people. A preacher named Clark Braden came to Liberal and exposed their corruption. He charged that:

  • Their hotels were brothels, and that Mrs. Rosenkrantz, the wife of one hotel keeper, died having her 16th abortion. The ground around their hotel was filled with the bones of aborted babies.
  • After the Sunday evening dances a prostitute could be procured for a mere dollar.
  • For $10 you could hire a false witness to defraud your neighbor in court.
  • The Free Thought University never had more than 15 students.
  • The bonds of the town were offered for 15 cents on the dollar with no purchasers
  • The coal mines, praised by the Liberal newspaper, were not producing even one car load a day.
  • The miners were idle 3/4ths of the time and Walser was planning to close the mines.
  • The Newspaper was also being shut down.
  • Walser’s wife of 27 years divorced him and the court awarded her $7,250 which he didn’t have.
  • The University of Mental Liberty Hall was sold to the Methodists for $488.
  • Dr. Bouton’s thriving business of producing seances was exposed as a fraud. For a charge of a dollar he promised encounters with the dead, but an untimely fire revealed an attic full of paraphernalia designed to dupe his clients.
  • Bouton was unrepentant and even published a pamphlet revealing his techniques of fooling people and demonstrated how easy it was to deceive them.
  • When the St. Louis Globe Democrat published these charges, Braden, and R.F. Holland of the Post Dispatch were sued for $25,000.
  • A trial took place in Barton County and Braden was acquitted by a jury of his peers.

One of the most exciting parts of the story is that Walser was converted to Christ before he died. In 1909 he wrote a book on Jesus of Nazareth which honors Christ with remarkable praise. Walser wrote: “As a Freethinker, I wandered into the field of Materialism, Atheism, Agnosticism, and finally Spiritualism, and I am ever thankful for my schooling along these lines, for my mind has been broadened, my conception brightened, and my nature brought more in harmony with my duty towards my fellow men. I write from the standpoint of a converted infidel. I have patiently investigated without bias all sides of mental and spiritual philosophies. All I desire is the truth whose footprints I will follow where it leadeth; for what is truth for me is truth for all, whether than truth is divine or secular. The life and teachings of the Master can only be fully appreciated through the aid of the imagination, guided and stimulated by all the facts . . .”

Remember! “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” Thankfully, Liberal today is free of brothels, prostitution, abortion, and Ponzi schemes. This can happen to any city if its leaders, like George Henry Walser, give themselves to Christ.

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce

P.S. The link to the book about Liberal is:

https://boycemouton.com/downloads/george_walser_liberal_mo.pdf