Barber County
KSGenWeb
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Laws of Kansas books. Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles
BOOKS:Chosen Land, A History of Barber County, Kansas - The History Book Committee (copyright 1980)
Cow Country Happenings, by Lonnie D. Garten (1996)
Search results: Abebooks.com. Amazon.com. Google.com.Encyclopedia of Buffalo Hunters & Skinners, Vol. I & II, by Remiger & Cummings. Sharon, Leo & Miles. Gilbert; Pioneer Press. Volume III of this series is being written in 2007.
Search results: Abebooks.com. Amazon.com. Google.com.Faded Dreams: More Ghost Towns of Kansas, by Daniel C. Fitzgerald.
Search results: Abebooks.com. Amazon.com. Google.com.History of the State of Kansas by William G. Cutler, 1883.
Isabel, Kansas - The First 100 Years, 1887 - 1987
Kings and Queens of the Range, a Pictorial Record of Early Day Cattlemen of Clark County, Kansas, compiled by Florence E. Hurd. Photographs taken from 1884 to 1904 by F. M. Steele. "This 90-page, hardbound book is a recent reprint sponsored by the Clark County Historical Society and the Pioneer Museum. The pictures taken by Steele, self-styled "tourist photo artist," are of cattle drives, ranch life, and farming operations in southwest Kansas and Oklahoma territory." -- Source: http://www.kancoll.org/khq/1977/77_3_offthepress.htm.
F.M. Steele also photographed in Barber County, and Kim Fowles has contributed scans of original photos by him from her personal collection to this website.
Search results: Google.com.Meandering Medicine Lodge: The 1880's - by Beverly McCollom (1991). Copies of this book are available from the Medicine Lodge Stockade Museum, Highway 160, Medicine Lodge, KS 67104. Call the museum at (620) 886-3417 to inquire about purchasing a copy of the book. Also see: Meandering, the weekly column by Bev McCollom from
The Gyp Hill Premiere , Medicine Lodge, Kansas.
Search results: Amazon.com. Google.com.Medicine Lodge: The Story of a Kansas Frontier Town - by Nellie Snyder Yost (copyright 1970)
Search results: Abebooks.com. Amazon.com. Google.com.Memories - by Jennie Stoughton Osborn (copyright 1935)
Musings of the Pilgrim Bard: A Book of Poems by Scott Cummins. The book includes Maid of Barber, a poem inspired by an early Barber County cowboy named Walt and a Barber County maiden named Malena.
The Osage Nation, from William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas. This article includes the history of various treaties with the Osage Indians. Barber County, Kansas, was created from the The Osage Diminished Reserve Lands.
Sod Jerusalems: Jewish Agricultural Communities in Frontier Kansas, by Lloyd Davis Harris.
The Standard History of Kansas, 1918 edition.
The Standard History of Kansas, Vol. 4 & 5, 1919 revised edition.
Tillie's Bridge, Memoirs of Matilda Lillieqvist, by Jean McKay.
Touring Barber & Harper Counties, by Robert Collins.
The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation, by Carry A. Nation, Revised edition, 1905.
The West That's Gone - Alma Cochran Rayfield (copyright 1962)
Search results: Abebooks.com. Amazon.com. Google.com.When Kansas Was Young - Thomas Allen McNeal (copyright 1922).
Books about Barber County, Kansas: The complete text of the "full view" books listed on this books.google.com search results page may be read online or downloaded and printed out. There are 77 books available on 12 Feb 2007.
Bibliography for Barber County, Kansas, The Kansas State Historical Society.
Papers of the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Projects Administration for Kansas, MS 71-1 Barber County, Kansas
ESSAYS:
A Christmas in the Wilderness, 1871 by Scott Cummins. A story about some buffalo hunters' Christmas dinner near where Medicine Lodge, Kansas, was later established.
NEWSPAPER COLUMNS:
Meandering, the weekly column by Bev McCollom, from
The Gyp Hill Premiere , Medicine Lodge, Kansas.
COMMENTARY:
* Mission Statement
* About Nathan
* Ethanol Math
* Lawn Mower Man
* An Ounce of Grass
* Livestock Judging Challenge
* Cow Mover
* Calving Traditions
* Future of Food
* Future of Soil
* Tomorrow's Profits in Beef
* Strength and Hardiness of Cattle
* Comments on Cow Efficiency
* The Concept of Singularity and Technology
* Brewer's Log (Homebrewing notes)
* Religion, a 4-Letter Word
* Blogs
MAGAZINES:
"Homer Venters: Vintage Rodeo Photographer", The Western Horseman, July 1972.
POETRY:
The Flood, a poem by Scott Cummins, written on April 23, 1885, about The Great Flood of April 21st, 1885, Barber County, Kansas.
Lines, a poem from Musings of the Pilgrim Bard by Scott Cummins, "Rehearsed at the "Old Settler's Picnic in Paddock's Grove on Upper Elm Creek, Barber County, Kansas, September 16, 1886, on the grounds where Esq. Paddock and his entire family drowned in the flood of 1885."
Memorial Tribute by the Pilgrim Bard to the Memory of Capt. Byron P. Ayers, The Medicine Lodge Cresset, March 15, 1888.
PERSONAL JOURNALS:
Journal of Samuel Slack Jr., covering events in Barber County circa 1880 - 1895.
WORKS IN PROGESS:
Born, Married, Died or Buried in Barber County, Kansas. This book is being written by Karen McClellan based on her database of 32,000 people connected with Barber County. Karen McClellan's e-mail address is cootsmail@aol.com.
FAMILY HISTORIES FROM ADJOINING COUNTIES:
Pioneer Saints & Sinners, Pratt County, Kansas - by J. Rufus Gray (copyright 1968)
Search results: Abebooks.com. Amazon.com. Google.com.St. Johns Lutheran Church Centennial, 1893 - 1993 - Nashville, Harper County, Kansas
Barber County Court House, Medicine Lodge, Kansas
Photo by Nathan Lee, October 2006.
Barber County, Kansas, was created in 1867 from Harper County, Kansas; the county seat is Medicine Lodge, Kansas. -- The Handy Book For Genealogists, 7th edition, Everton Publishers, Logan, Utah, 1981.
For all counties in Kansas, birth and death records since July 1, 1911; marriages since May 1, 1913; and divorces since July 1, 1951 are obtainable at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Office of Vital Statistics, Topeka, Kansas 66620. Records are indexed alphabetically by year.
The forms needed to order records from the Office of Vital Statistics are available online from The Kansas Dept. of Health & Environment Office of Vital Statistics. Another source of these forms is vitalrec.com.
Research
For vital records before the dates given above, and for probate, land records and other civil records, contact the appropriate office at the:
Barber County Courthouse
120 East Washington Street
Medicine Lodge, KS 67104-1421
Phone: (620) 886-3961. Fax: (620) 886-5425.To locate the names of current county officials and contact information for them, use the following Google search results:
"Barber County" +courthouseIf you want to find an obituary or news articles, start by checking this List of Barber County Newspapers to locate the Kansas State Historical Society microfilm reel number the item you're seeking is likely to be on. Links to information on borrowing microfilms through interlibrary loan are on the aforementioned page.
You will often read references to people in Barber County "homesteading" their land. Barber County was NOT settled under the provisions of the Homestead Act. Barber County is part of the Osage Diminished Reserve Lands. For more information, see the following page on the Comanche County, Kansas: History & Genealogy site: The Osage Diminished Reserve Lands.
Collected Death Notices for Barber County, Kansas
Collected Marriage Notices for Barber County, Kansas
Petition for Incorporation of Sun City, 15 Jan 1886.
Corporations in Sun City, Kansas, courtesy of Kim Fowles.
James Anderson Court Case 1902
William Twombley Court Case 1903
Lincoln Library - Medicine Lodge
Linkpendium - Barber County KS
Medicine Lodge History Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty
National Register of Historic Places in Barber County
Wichita State University Special Collections Images
Historic People
David Nation - Husband of Carry A. Nation
Business
Barber County Newspapers:
Barber County Index, 106 W. First, Medicine Lodge, KS 67104.
Phone: (620) 886-5617.
Gyp Hill Premiere, 110 N. Main, Medicine Lodge, Kansas 67104.
http://www.gyphillpremiere.com/
Phone: 620-886-5654. Fax: 620-886-5655.
Kiowa News, 614 Main Street, Kiowa, KS 67070.
http://www.kiowanews.com/
Phone: (620) 825-4229
Barber County Libraries:
Hardtner Public Library, P. O. Box 38, Hardtner, KS 67057.
Phone: 620-296-4586.
Kiowa Public Library, 123 N. Seventh, Kiowa, KS 67070.
Phone: (620) 825-4630.
Lincoln Library, 201 N. Main, Medicine Lodge, KS 67104.
Phone: (620) 886-5746. Fax: (620) 886-9985.
Wisner Library, Sharon, KS 67138
Barber County Museums and Historical Societies:
Carrie Nation House, Highway 160, Medicine Lodge, KS 67104.
Phone: (620) 886-3908.
The Stockade Museum, Highway 160, Medicine Lodge, KS 67104.
Phone: (620) 886-3417.
Kiowa Historical Museum, 107 N. 7th, Kiowa, KS 67070.
Open: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Phone: (620) 825-4727.
Kiowa School Museum, 5th and Miller, Kiowa, KS 67070. Open by appointment.
KGS Online Catalog Includes listings of historical records for Barber County, Ks, held by the Kansas Genealogical Society.
Records available through interlibrary loan from The Kansas State Historical Society:
* 1937-1938: Barber County farm directory,
call# K/910.1/F229/-B23/1937-1938.
* 1949: Medicine Lodge city directory,
call# K/910/-M46/1949.
* 1963: Barber County farm directory,
call# K/910.1/F229/-B23/1963.
Copyright © 1996 - The USGenWeb® Project, KSGenWeb, Barber County
This page was last updated
01/28/2026