Lutz, John J. (John Joseph), 1855-1909

Author, teacher, Methodist Episcopal minister; of Kansas, Minnesota.

John J. Lutz was born in Smithville, Ohio, on January 28, 1855. Attending public schools, he later went to college in Ohio. Lutz migrated to Kansas in 1885 after teaching 10 years in Ohio. He continued teaching until 1890. Lutz was ordained a Methodist minister in 1891 and served Manhattan and Pottawatomie County until 1894. He then moved to Minnesota and served in Fairfax & Stanton. In addition to being a minister, Lutz was also an author. He wrote several articles on a variety of historical subjects for various periodicals. These included the Kansas State Historical Society Collections and the Midland monthly, for which he wrote an article, published in 1897, about the 1860 abolitionist raid on the Morgan Walker farm in Missouri. The raid was led by William Clarke Quantrill who betrayed the abolitionists to the slave owning Walkers. Lutz also researched the 1846 Reed-Donner party, half of whom died on the overland trail to California. He also located the grave of Sarah Keyes who died en route along the banks of the Blue River in Kansas. Another topic Lutz researched was Methodist missions in Kansas.