In the geography books of the
17th and 18th centuries, Kansas was labeled the “Great American Desert.”
Coronado may have stepped foot on Stafford County soil when he explored
northward from Mexico in 1541. (Or he may not have … but we like to think he at
least saw us from the top of Pawnee Rock!)
County was within the
area of the Louisiana Purchase made in 1803 from France by Pres. Thomas
Jefferson. The following year, Lewis and Clark started on their famed
expedition going west across the “desert” plains. Caravans of covered wagons
followed in their footsteps and settlements developed around the way stations,
trading posts and mission headquarters.
the southwest territory
became a part of the United States and in 1854 Congress created the territory
map of Kansas,
published by the Wichita Beacon, indicates Kiowa Indian Chief, Satanta,
known as the “Terror of the Santa Fe Trail,” used the Stafford County area as
his base of operations.
at the close of the Civil
War, what would later become Stafford County was part of Marion County, which
extended west to Colorado.
to Family Heritage Album (Family Heritage
Society, 1975), Stafford County was first established Feb. 26, 1867, but was
“unstable.” The boundary lines of Stafford County were defined by the
Legislature of 1870, but the county remained unorganized. The Legislature of
1875, with the intention of obliterating the county from the map, partitioned
the territory off to surrounding counties. However, a strip six miles wide and
12 miles long remained as Stafford County.
25, 1879, the Supreme
Court declared the Legislature’s act of dividing the county unconstitutional
and the county was restored to its original boundaries.
there were just two non-native
migrants residing in Stafford County.
In May, 1874,
W.R. Hoole resided
in a dugout in the extreme northwestern part of Stafford County. Also in May,
1874, a caravan of 20 covered wagons led by George C. Ardrey arrived in the
western part of Reno County. Four families crossed the line into Stafford
County and took up homesteads. This settlement in eastern Stafford County
became known as the Ardrey Settlement.
1874, James Neelands
arrived from Canada and started a settlement in Albano Township.
Others who settled in Stafford
County in 1874 were James O’Connor, R.M. Blair, Edwin Hadlock, W.Z. Nutting,
Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Green as well as the Missouri Settlement in the eastern part
of the county including Jim Graves, Sam Clifton and John Groves.
25 ox-drawn wagons
brought settlers from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. They
were under the leadership of William Bickerton of the Church
of Jesus Christ. Their settlement was known as Zion Valley and became the town
of St. John.
settlers were E.C.
Johnson, William and A.C. Glasscock and M.P. Chambers.
four homesteads taken by
E.B. Crawford, Jess Moreland, Jess Vickers and S.R. Estle became the town of
Stafford in 1885. The four corners of their homesteads met at what is now Main
who arrived in
1876 were John Shotton, S.E. Peacock, J.J. Cox, J.T. Askew, George W. Bousman,
Harry Bunting, Edwin R. Durham, Charles A. Brown, Joseph Waddle, George
Breckenridge, Milo A. Yoder, J.G. Smiley and S.W. McComb.
D.N. Young lived near
what would become the town of Macksville. A group of Danish settlers settled in
York Township, in the extreme southeast corner of the county. Also in 1877, Jacob
Hahn homesteaded in what would become Seward in the northeast part of the
settlers were James W.
Harris, H.S. Crawford, J.T. McMillan, Ezra P. Metz, W.M. McMillan,
Charles N. Waters, J.L. Spickard, Jay W. McFadden and Mr. and Mrs. Andrew
Hohner and sons Will, Fred and George (who settled in Cleveland Township).
There was also a Mr. Hitz who settled near what would become Hudson.
and 1880, about
20,000 African-Americans, mostly ex-slaves, migrated to Kansas. These migrants
became known as “Exodusters” because their migration resembled the Israelites’
exodus from Egypt in the Hebrew bible. A colony of these Exodusters settled in
Ohio Township in 1878.
election was held
August 18, 1879 and the first elected officials were:
G.M. Detwiler, F.R. Baumgartner and J.C. Towsley.
of the Court: Geo. W.
of Deeds: Frank Gilmore.
of Schools: N.L.D.
the Peace: William
FOR COUNTY SEAT
On July 2,
1879, Gov. John P. St.
John proclaimed St. John as the temporary county seat of Stafford County. Also
on the ballot of the first election in August, 1879 were candidates for the
county seat. The towns on the first ballot were St. John, Stafford, Bedford,
Livingston and Center.
In that first
election, St. John
lacked one vote of having a majority, so a special election was necessary.
5, 1882, that special
election was held, but a tornado struck Stafford at 4:00 p.m. that day
destroying the ballot box, so there were no returns from that township.
A third election
was held April
14, 1882, but there was no majority vote for St. John, Stafford or Bedford.
A final county
seat election was
held April 18, 1882, with Bedford eliminated. St. John received the majority of
votes and became the permanent county seat.