The first county officers elected were the following named individuals: County Commissioner, First District, David Richards; Second District, A. D. Rosencrans; Third District, Reuben Riggs; County Clerk, C. S. Broadbent; County Treasurer, R. Freeman;Probate Judge, G. M. Miller; Register of Deeds, J. Romine; Sheriff, J. J. Ferguson; Coroner, Charles D. Brande; County Attorney, George N. Godfrey; Clerk of the District Court, W. A. Thompson; Superintendent of Public Instruction, A. M. Colson; County Surveyor, W. A. Ramsey.
Officers elected to office in the Fourth Precinct: C. E. Sullivan, Trustee; M. H. Lester and George Mack, Justices of the Peace; Frank Barrington, Clerk; G. W. Peters, Treasurer; C. P. Epps and John J. Youell, Constables; T. S. Anderson and Noble Jewitt, Road Overseers. The total number of votes polled in the county was 805.
During this time a great race was being made to determine where the county seat should be located. The towns contesting for the county seat were, Wellington, Sumner City, Meridian and Belle Plaine. Gov. Harvey issued a proclamation on February 7th, 1871, appointing Meridian as the temporary county seat; in accordance with the prayer of a petition from Meridian, also appointed W. J. Ughler, J. S. McMahon and J. J. Abell, Temporary County Commissioners. As a matter of fact, Meridian was at this time, a purely imaginary town, as its site had not been so much as staked out or stepped off. It was not until July 17, 1871, that the town company was organized. No steps were taken toward providing for the seat of county government at Meridian, and when the commissioners met on June 15, 1871, on the open prairie near the supposed site of the town, they ordered the future business of the county to be transacted at Wellington. After much wrangling between towns, and several elections, Wellington became the permanent county seat.
Early in it's history Sumner county played a huge role in the cattle industry of the day. Early on cattle were driven up from Texas over the Chisholm Trail through, what would become, Sumner county to the rail head at Abilene. Later, rail heads built in Caldwell and South Haven, and finally Hunnewell, were important shipping points for cattle to the east. The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association, possibly the largest cattlemen’s association, was formed in Caldwell in 1883 after three years of informal meetings. The association leased the entire 6,000,000 acres of the Cherokee Outlet from the Cherokee Nation and sublet portions to individuals and corporations. The ranchers of this association held hundreds of thousands of head of cattle on the Cherokee Outlet in Indian Territory.
Texts of Historical and Genealogical Interest |
Obituaries |
Township Map of Sumner County |
Sumner County News |
Click HERE for a very large modern map. Map shows towns, creeks, rivers and cemeteries as well as roads in the county. Map will open in a new tab or window. You will most likely need to right click on the image to show the map full size. Click HERE for Map legend. Click HERE for Detail Views from Map. (Note : These images are VERY large.) |
Sumner County Cemetery Listing on Find-A-Grave | Sumner County Cemetery Listings on Interment.net |
Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society Box 402 Wellington, Kansas 67152 |
Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Research Center Memorial Auditorium 208 N. Washington Wellington Kansas Tuesday 10am - 4pm. (May be closed for lunch) Also Open by appointment. |
Sumner County Mail List on Rootsweb | Sumner County Message Board on Rootsweb |
General Kansas Mail List on Rootsweb | General Kansas Message Board on Rootsweb |
Sumner County Message Board on Genforum | General Kansas Message Board on Genforum |
Surnames on Our Family Tree | |
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Page Created 12 January 2012
Last Updated, Tuesday, 10-Jul-2018 11:03:03 MDT
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© 2024 by Sumner County Administrator
Last Updated, Tuesday, 10-Jul-2018 11:03:03 MDT
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated without consent.
All rights reserved. Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited.
The copyright (s) on this page must appear on all copied and/or printed material.
© 2024 by Sumner County Administrator