My name is Bob Jenkins and I am the Doniphan County Coordinator.
We have many genealogical resources available here.
We would appreciate any contributions you would like to
make to this site.
Types of materials we are looking to include on this
website are: family histories, biographies, photos,
obituaries, tombstone photos and cemetery lists, etc.
If you have any the above items please contact me by
clicking on my name.
Brief History of Doniphan County, Kansas
Doniphan County was established on August 25, 1855, as one of the original counties created by the Kansas Territorial Legislature. Located in the state’s far northeastern corner, it is bordered by the Missouri River, a historic travel corridor long used by Native peoples, traders, and early explorers. The region was home to the Ioway, Sac & Fox, and Kickapoo, and mission communities such as the Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission became early centers of settlement in the 1830s–1840s.
Pioneer towns grew rapidly in the 1850s, supported by river landings, fertile farmland, and early transportation routes—including Kansas’ first chartered railroad. The county seat is Troy, a community that, along with Highland, Wathena, Elwood, Severance, and White Cloud, reflects the county’s layered story of missions, frontier politics, agriculture, and river commerce.
Today, Doniphan County remains shaped by its early families, its river heritage, and its long agricultural tradition—an essential starting point for tracing Kansas roots.
