xt7zpc2t7t8b https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7zpc2t7t8b/data/mets.xml Kansas Historical Records Survey United States. Work Projects Administration. Division of Professional and Service Projects Kansas Kansas Historical Records Survey United States. Work Projects Administration. Division of Professional and Service Projects 1940 xi, 655 l.: ill. 27 cm. UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Library Program libraries and the Federal Information Preservation Network. Call Number FW 4.14:K 133/no.89 books  English Topeka, Kan.: the Survey  This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Kansas Works Progress Administration Publications Archives--Kansas--Shawnee County--Catalogs Shawnee County (Kan.)--History--Sources Shawnee County (Kan.)--Genealogy Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas. No. 89. Shawnee County (Topeka), 1940 text Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas. No. 89. Shawnee County (Topeka), 1940 1940 1940 2020 true xt7zpc2t7t8b section xt7zpc2t7t8b  

 

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TLe Kaisas Historical Records Survey
‘ Divi51on of Profess:3na1 igd Service Projects
1 ‘Tork Projects ”dHlAiSLTRtiOH

1” The Kansas Stite Historical Society

Topeka, Kansas
The Kansas Historical Records Survey
December 1940

  

 

 

istorioal Records Survey i roprnm

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,
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34

nt B. Child, Director
Hodnefield, Regional Supervisor
State Supervisor

C—4 0]

aMEn
cob
1010 J. Henderson,

:4

Research end Records

‘ireotor
*onal Supervisor
upervisor

 

ision of Professional and Service Projects

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Florence Ker Assis gent Commissioner
T

Mildred T. Jew Chief Regional Empervisor
r1

Kbry Parkman,

WORK PROJECTS anINISTRAiIOJ

Ho Nerd 0. Hunter, Acting Commissioner
Linus C. Glotzbach, Regional Director

Clarence G. Nevins, State Administrator

 MO7S'ORD

‘

The Inventory of 310 Cou.nty Archives of
of guides 0 his series 1 met rials prepared tor

  
 
   
 
 
 
 
    
  
  
 
 

 

 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
    
   
     
   
   
   
   
  

by workers on the Historical :ecer 5 So; m"7
c ‘ publi.cati on herow "ith pro
r Countyj is number 89 of the

Recoras Survey Program was

ace of providijj use ul
teachers
objective,

~rllC inventories of histo ic1l materials,
C 7

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“emcnt document: and re ores which are has
‘31 governms: 3 and Jnich grovide invalua”
‘ h1storw. The

-ho requirezents
unsv,, and also
xfllo require fac

affairs.

lhe inv; ntori
attempt to do more
:r to sketch

‘5 of gorcrnmegs, cal to do
zatio: and functions of t 3
inc ceuntv,C tow21, and other 1
it

 

Till, when omp letod, coast 0 0 Grey pc
as well as a Cbibliograph3 of local archives.

Tre soccessful COAClUSlOL of too work of *re Historzcal -Ccords
Surve 3 Program, oven in ” silgl” county, would Lot be poss1blc without
the sun p01"t of public officials, historical rod legel 5pc01alists, and
man" 0% lirr groups in “he COWiusitV. icir coo rotion 13 gr1tcfully

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Tecumseh
Township

,thuline

Monmouth
Township

 

 

MAP
OF

S HAW/NEE COU NTV

KANSAS

legaag
State & U.S.Highways

Railroads M%H+H+H+HfiHHHHHHH+HP

Streamsu\(\ranyvv/~V/\~¢v~’

Township Lines ...................................

 

Location of Shawnee 1i,

County in State

 

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 1. HISTORICALU TIT TCH

Shawnee County was one of the 36 originaI. counties created by the
first Territorial legislative assembly which met at Shawnee Miss'
July 16 and adjourne August 50, 18553.1 The county was any d fg
Shawnee 1ndians,2 owners of large tracts of land in Haste rn Kane
1825 to 1854.5 Its present area is approximately 558 "(La e miles, or

357,130 )acres.4

Location and Boundaries

lhe county is situated in the mrtheast quarter of
rec angle. Its eastern border is 48 miles west of
(To

   

the u
Tron Topeka, seat of its county vernmer.t and capita e
is 56 miles in a straight line to Missouri, 66 miles to a.
north, 144 miles south to Oklahoma, and 554 miles west 01
Th; Kansas River, equally well known as the Kaw, traverses the county's
width to join the Missouri River at Kansas City just above the p01n
where that stream swings eastward for its transit of Missouri to enter

the Mississippi near St. Louis.

,4s established in 1855 the whole of Shawnee County lay sent 0 t

Kans sas River, comprising an area extending from_the river to a line con-
tinuous with the south line of Douglas Count c;/ and reaching westrer‘ 4
miles from the west Douglas County line. The area north of the riv
. was to be incorporated in Shawnee County y future acts of t
legislature was designated as a part of Calhoun Count3,5 rte name of

which was changed to Ja clcson County on February 11, 185Q .0 The counties
of Richardson, later to become Wabaunsee, and Weller, later to become
Osa ge, were attached to Shawnee for administrative and 3
b? tie first assembly. Richardson extended °4 miles we

 

ial purposes
d from
e south;

“hree times
“a e County,

a“ i S
mrnee, and Heller, 24 miles square, a joined Shawnee on
11s Shawnee was given an administrative area approxi ate
hat of the count“ roper. The site of Burlingame, now 1
was vithin the limits of Shawiee.7

 

 

1. Terr. L. 1855, chs. SO, 33, 37. .
2. Collections of the Kansas State Historical So eie t3 (hereinafter
cited as Historical GET-lections ), VII, p. 474.
3. Euro eau of American Ethnology, Eighteenth Annua Report, 1896-97,
ITashington, D.C., 1899, part 2, pp. 7'92, 793.
4. Kansas State College of Agriculture and Ppplied Scie ence, Soil
Survey of Shawnee County, Kansas, Topeka, 1914, Bulletin No. 200, p. 717.
5.““Terr. L. 1855, ch. 30, sec. 51.
6. A. T. Andreas, History 3: the State of Kanscs, Chicago, 1883,
p. 13235. ‘—
7. Torr. L. 1855, ch. 30, sees. 11, 12, 16, 54, 55.

 

 

 

  

"kct h - Locafiio (First outry, p. 207)

 

 

     

The were First dofinod 1y station
lines in the logisl turo 10ft tho orgn unohangod. Tho not
define; is follows: ”Beginning Pt tho southwost cornor
of ?Ou51: ichoo mist 11th tho s,ot1on lines to the corners of
sections .1d L5, townshii 15 south of ILHS' 13 Last; thonoo
horth with lints t3 intersection of th\ midd1r of tho
rfiin oh‘huo Ilrsas AlVJr; thence down said rivcr, in tho middle
of thi ma1h hereof, to th: northwos " L ' County;
thohot s» wost bouhd1rj of said H1100
of raginniqo

‘ Sha 116 was

The ad: inistrc.tivo area 0 .
1 ‘EF‘Witn thx

 

county proper on ‘(bTUOl‘y 1, SC

Licharlson 1nd Weller counti1os from imiod

Nos 9110 dotoohod for juflioiol purposes thro

trict court in that county,5 11d its n1;o MR

the no“ orgauizing tho countyoé Thc ""10 of‘fcllcr was 0L:n:od 1w Osage
“2d tho county Has organized for odnihistrotivo purposes "

 

under the judicial erisdict m1 of ShawnooU until

His 1- :.ohl;d ior jUdioio1 pUl oosos.

 

\‘HJ'

JVVJ

Shawnee Coun bound:.1i CS
1830. Tho southern OUndcr;v was novod
botwoon townships loo
in; this area, includih‘
Count y. All that portion of Jackson
ootwoon townships 10 and 11, oomoris'
tho Kansas River, was annoxod to

   
 

 

   
  
  
 

 

Tho 1cgisl*tur: of 1868 giro Shawnoo County oplioxigntolV its bro—
“:1 oounC‘tI‘y by moving “611C north lino O milos ficrthvrmrd to t1)

1- .1... - » .. . ‘ A . ‘ . ’ r ' ‘
1119 ootuCou tomishiyn u 31d 10. 1ho four oo"{“o"s101"1 townshio: thus
doz‘cn71 fro“ Jacxson and “'dou to oho””0‘ modc Lh: 1oottr Conroximbtcly
fl 1 . '
oé miles no3tL "3d soutL “lb 1% milos cast ind wont, cxooot ttot the

L 1_.
fl 1 1 , 1 , -~ "_ ‘ . _ .
1st “no J‘Sb Jouno.r1os iolih 01” too r1vcr1rc aoproxih mt Cly 5 milos

.n. n,_—t L“ .- «V ~ .
. OLC obi-.11 Of 1111;, 111711. £19 086 bound ri;5; F255 nuflncd
L to statute were is lollo's: ”Cormo"01io fit tho sout horst oorncr of
5007103 St, township 1:, 31:0 17 cost; thonoo duo iorbh on section lines,

 

 

 

 

 

1. Torr. L. 1857'j p. 40, 590° 11.

2. Torr. L. 18o9, ch. 53, soc. 2; oh. 100, Goo. 1.

3. Ibid., oh. éO, soc. s.

4. Ibid., ch. 59, sec. 1.

5. ”1331., ch. 100, sacs. 1-5.

6. 1bid., oh. ‘1, 5,“. 4.

7. L. 1651, ch. 23, “Co. 2.

8. 1Crr. L. 1860, oh. 46, soc; 1.

9. L. 1958, 0‘19 15 (Cpooz'l 1c, sioo) (us. 107;, ch. 13, scc. 1&9.

 Historical Sketch — Location (First our” p. 207)
and Boundaries

 

being 2 miles west of the east line of i go 17, to the Kansas or Kan
River; thence westward by and following the chc.nnel of <1d river for a
distance of 5 miles, and indicated by section lines, t. ' :
corner 01 sect101 25, township 1.1, ranno 16; thence nartn, to the second
tandard parallel; thence ast (but a few chains) to the s
of section 66, township 10, range 16; thence north OP -
1 mile west of east line of range 16, 6 miles to t‘e
ship 10; thence west on said line 24 miles to the no
section 1, tow; ship 10, ranre 12; thence south to en
Kansas or Kaw R1 1ver; thence down the ohan;2e 1 of said river, t: a point
2 miles west of the east line of range 15, as by the “

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thcnec due south on said sec cticn lines, beiny 2 mile 3 west of east line
of range 15, being the preseit west line of Shalneo County, south of
the Kansas River, to the southu est cerrcr 01 sec cion 53, township 13,
range 15 east; thence east 24 miles to the place of be;1nnin:."l

e i

boundary line between Shawnee and Jeiferscn Counties was .

leoislature, but the areas were only slightly changed by the minute

amount of to erritery Shaxnie-e lost. Th's interpolation ‘

at the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of;

11, razige 16 east of the al meridian;
‘1

The only subsequent one: so was made in 1899 when a oerticn of the

     

 

     

center oi the Kansas River; northerly a eng t-
Kansas liver to the south lire :‘ the northeasU 1 4
teLmt nip 11, reboe 16 east ' ixth piincipal st 1 i'
to the st lin“ of section unship 11, rs.noe 16 st
rinc iapl meridian, to the present bouiiga ry line bet ee; Shawnee and
!

_ferson Ceu ntics as new CJNUCIMUU ed.

and

,x
L

The legislative assembly oi 1858 _adc an uisueeess
set up two new counties 1L1 tlie region betteen t1
nor rthern boundary of Jacks :11 County, the 1e en
Ul‘Lat new '5 the northern part of Shawnee

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O

“my

as Aaw County, and the other to be named cola County. H>ltan, new
county seat of Jackson County, was named s 0the countv sect a? Osceola
and Cyrus K. Holliday, \hn M. Coo , and Asa Redmond “'(TC cannissicncd

to select a temporary :eunty seat for Kan County. The bill was passed
by the council and the house but was not signed by the Governor. hnd
although the fluorriieeudejt If public printing Ha: instruotc-C in a

house resolution to puelish the measure along with other sets of the
session, this, for some undertormincd reason, was not dsne and titrefcre
the bill did not become a law.3

>900
3

 

1. L. 1858, ch. 15 (Special 80 ssi~n); 0.3. 1868, ch. 24, sec. 70;
Gus. 1935, Che 18, ECCQ 189-

2. L. 1899, ch. 56, sec° 1; 6.3. 1935, ch. 18_ sec.
‘ 5. House Journal (Extra Sessi.en of the Legislative
Kansas Territory 0 . 9 1857-08, LawrenCET'Kan., 1861, pp.
370, 442.

 

 

 

  

 

H stericul Sketch - Tepeg aphy (First ea"
and Climate

Tomography and Climate

Topographically, Shawnee Ccunty is a hi;3h undula plateau fre~
quent y cut by valleys of varyin~s ize. A1:)nq the c: . lens .
rentlc slopes in which it is freque: mtly ihlfflcult tc de 1H14k the extent
cf the overflewed land. The streams are fringed by steep s]epe.s which
give rise to a belt of rough country. The greater part 01 the drainage
flows int: the Kansas River. The northern part of the county is drained

mainly by these tributaries of that stream: Beurbennais, Crers Bi:

 

'1‘ /

Suldier,‘1alnut, Little Soldier, Muddv reeks. Indian and Lit' 1e Unity
are creeks ef minor importancc.SeUt}1 of the river most 3f the drainage
is carried by Mission, Shun; wiunga, and lakarusa CrceLs “
tributaties. Dee er, unetstenc, and Tecumseh Creeks, shrew
importance, drain the eas‘L central par‘ of the county. There is a total

01‘2111r3r

  

 

L1
ranje 3f elevati n of ever 350 feet. The lewost point, where the river
leaves the county, is about 800 'eet and the hi ghesc, in ' " seuthuest

 

rm ‘I ,. ._

corner, is OTUT l, 150 feet above sea level. lflC br: : p1at;‘aU strip
which enters the county at its seuthn'm stern beunfl srv and extends in in
easterly directimx icrms the hifhest lane in the county. East of Mission

township the high rolling pra Lirie gives way to a flat, level plain

dissected by wa str 031s In Monmouth township on tie easterr bu .dsry

the elevcticn is fully as high as thct of thr western pert, eitn veer

melleys and numerous eutereps 3f 11JCthflC along tne strcrms. Earth of

the Zianscs River the topegra why is slightly modified by the presence of

a thin lcycr of glacial t'i 11, 01th eugh in general the typography is that
.1

of residual mther than {filxeial stuntry. Here the elevation 's slightly
less than it is s:uth oi the riVer, and in enly a few ins m.nces does it
OXCCCd 1:100 foot.1 The sail 31 the county is a rich dar
prsductivo, and it has been described in Gevermient aid ;
r"bettom land, 51 percent; up]_and, 69 percen ; forest, 8 percent, and
airie, 92 percent." The timber, natural _';rev.mh, is confined larve 1y
I‘the battens cf the Ks in ;as River and its ributari :5, e11, cot: terM'ee
bla cl: walnut, oak, sycamore, hex elder, hickory, and ash trees predominat~
1mg.

 

‘2')

 

The county is well supplied with rainfall, crspe
growing season and is ”e av.3red witi mere sunshine tlm n m;: st MTCS to the
east. Tle average ainfall, approximately 35 inches, is ab\ut equal to
the average for such ixipsrt ant corn—pr educiile state es ::s Iowa, Illinois
Indiana, Ohio, and Eastern Nebraska. Free 70 c3 74 percent 3f the
Precipitation is accounted for during the months >f April te September:
inclusive, when the need of soil moisture is mist urgent. Ne states

 

 

 

Vrv can -« 1’13 m r~ '
1. Airman Stu.ue C 110 e 31 A rieulture and npplied Science, 80 11
n ,. V. ‘ 1
our/0y 3f ehaanlee Gaunty, Kane‘s as, Bulletin We. 200, pp. 717, 718.
2. AirlE‘I‘CL-‘S, Op. Cite, p. 521.

 

 

 

 Historical Sketch — Topography (Tifgt Qntrv, p, 297)
and Climate

   

exec t a few alone the Ml Coast receive as much ruin'
3
growiz1r months as the e:ste third of Kansus. The

tempo ature is about 55 dk"T;Ofln January us.elly is
July the hottest. Cooling breezes make their oppor-
ushering in the most deli.ghtful season 01‘ the yenra
summer is common in Octohacr or th fo~epart of Keven
weather as nee rly id;el as can be found on any fart o
Rigorous weather seldom sets in before the

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Floods in the he: sss River watershed are due almost entirely to the
excessively11es y1c.ins liable to occur during the warm season or early
fall months. Among tie most noteworthy floods were these of 1844, 1905,

9 4 1908, and l915. Probably the greatest t of “7
814 Investigation by we ther bureor 01>1c1t '

f 4 s feet on the prr- eh rage detun was 9

h' watt: -r merk of 190 .§ AS e result of 6 we

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(7th

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1 the spring of l
ClOLg the Kansas River

 

   

Vastly more destructive, however, because of he increase imp
tien and odvencem011t i11 ell lines has the flood 01 lQOB, ‘
Q ' ing on I y

es 0

      

c1 iwnee County its gr on test calamity. Begim
continued for 2 wee ks. Topeke received 8 indm
9, ”cling 17. The Mellon 1ive r, fed b" its gorged ributeriis, ravaged
i1 of terli tory 200 miles long ejid 6 miles wide. Because 01 its

\ elevation Cild comparitive derlsity of pop oulation Eorth Topeka
su1fered most, the entire area oeini submerged by Key 30. :ith thousand
\rsens were forced from their homes, 29 lives U016 les 1
1opeks distlict clone property damage w:s estimtmt
river reached its highest st ego Ido.y Bl and i s
ceased t: run in the strcets. On the 5
Avenue 1or 5 blocks, floodi 1ng the low—lying
sway the approaches to the Melon ridg comp
communication between the two purge Li Ctno ci
25 of which could be found. And ”ouch sever

"C?
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1t cooked up Kansas
0 h c
8

c , 3 y about
were lost due to

 

 

l. Unite d Ste ces Department of Agriculture, erther Bureau, Climatic
Summary of the United States - Section él~--Eostern Kensrs, p. l.

2. ”hm-1., p. 2.

30 Historical Collections, VIII, pp. 476-478.

4. Gilbert J. Garraghen, The Jesuits of the Middle United Steses,
New York, 1938, 11, p. 607. .1-

 

 

 

 

 

  

curry, p. 207)

,_J.
a

Sk>toh — Earlv History (11;
1

objects, and uusl Cillcd befitn1on, many
11 11mc in a lumbar

   

0 SC ' startifiv from un3190<
ya“d and spread widely by Flcltllf wrac.: added t9 th d ngcr and a
C 1nd brou h a lrpp 11 temper cu1; to Novombor lovcla. Sonu 93p 15t_

1t 1 and no 1rhbor1uw towns over the
it of mud from 6 1H101LS to 3 feat thick
1

I

Ildinr in North Tameka, but within

 

Early Histary and 3 Mt lcno1t

1

 

 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 

   

The unolc of K1351: thoit 7,765 squirt M11L~ at . seutn “sh COTHQ
9r131n911y was a part of tgo vast territory rn1wn as thy 11rv1nc> of
Leu1siadu, purchasc’ by the Unite“ Qtatos frgfi “1 in lbOB. The remivn
’95 cla1r1d Hy b9Lh France “3d 8991; in tho ; 01LC\WLL and fightco:1’t11
centuries. up 1d bCSLfl her 91:11 On fiho cxpc :11 tie ‘ of Caronndc in 1541,
while Prince painted to tkc expls t“’ O” 1675
an“ M L93911c, Lha took pfisscms c
"9119 ‘ rm'hev12r,

 

hc rivers wnich dischal
r9

in 17 2 F are psssod her 0191: 91 v . ~i '1_u“ :._#r .; ': 7 in 9:
in 1801 Spain rctroccdcd the are? 1. ‘ ’ ' _ ihc
Unitcd States 9: April 50, 1805. 71M+ :9 1 ,* p 1 , ': i v 1viug
narth 2f thc Mr par r91.101 ’ ' “ L;
and placed unl r jurisr 110 1tdrv.
11 .312 i“ b ”I Dart __ C vcrnjr,
S‘ 1, v: COULcil 11C. 11.'_ w- ’ 1 ,3. . -,. f_r_fgnsns
out ., ' the
L1ri 1;- t. 4L 9, tL rd paral c .11: left
0 L uisirr9 raglan, H10111111141 the Jr~s01t .r11 1f
'h ‘ 9' rntil p9ssaro sf thc Hanson-chraska

 

cut crpanizod

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in3 fr9m the 1.11
r' R1vcr #1 $14 me m91chg x -111ggcq

 

 

'erv if qwfi'va C9u1tv, 1

ist
905, p9. 207~221. “‘
pp. A -3—49.

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94, 645, 797.

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d l'nmcriquo Scptonrrnm Halo, 1614-1754, Paris: 1879-

 

 

 

 

 

 no 1‘

ion

or,

_ 7 _
Historical Sketch — Early History rirst encry, p. 207)
and Settlement

The Kansas Indians, for whom the State is named, for many years
occupied and claimed parts of what new is Eastern Kansas. By 1 treaty

made at St. Louis on June 3, 1825 this tribe ceded to tne United States
all of the land to which it h0 d cl.aims excepting an area 30 miles wide

300 westu

 

beginning 20 leagues up the Kansas River and extending
ward through the land ceded. Twenty-three sections more w=
on the north side of the river for certain half—breeds.“ ins lard re-
served, amounting to 9,000 squa “e miles of the hear t n
the western portion of the present count/ of Shav mn e,
beingt l.e center of range 14, w.hioh is 9miles nest of tgc cen
Topeka.2 0f the 23 sections given to the half- breeds a irs
than 7 were in Shawnee County immediately north of the Iansas
remainder being in Jefferson County. Reserve nmnbcr 4 was in what is
new North Topeka.3

  
 

. (‘1

 

or of

The first white person to settle within the limits of Shawnee County

is generally believed to have been -Trederick Choteo.u, w>.o cstablir hcd a
trading post on Mission Creek in 1830. Later in the yefzr tic ?«mv rend
William Johnson, a Methodist missi.onary, commenced work amonc the lie: sas
Indians at two villages close to Choteau's post. A Governn L”
charge of Daniel Morgan Boone, son of the noted ironticrw:
established in l835 for the benefit of the Indians. In th
the Reverend Johnson built a miss ion on the northern par

the northwest corner of section 33, township 11, range 1‘
41 four Papan brothers of French-Canadian descent came to this area,
three of them marrying women of the Gonvil family, who, being half—breeds,
had caC1 received a section oi land allotted under the treaty of 1825.
The Gonvil land embraced tnc site of present llorth Topeka. In 1842 the
Pap an brothers started a lorry to meet the demands of the %V 1 be tween

”1
Fort Leavenworth and the Southwest, and later the Oregon and Ge 11 fornia
L n . A
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The Kansas India‘s on January 14, 1846 ceded