Ellis
County, Kansas
City of Victoria
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Ellis
County, Kansas |
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The impressive Catholic church named St. Fidelis got its name as "The Cathedral of the Plains" from William Jennings Bryan. This beautiful limestone church was built between 1908 and 1910. St. Fidelis has been named to the National Register of Historic Sites.
The history of Victoria is documented in The Golden Jubilee of German-Russian Settlements of Ellis and Rush Counties, Kansas, August 31, September 1 and 2, 1926.
A Scotch-English colony of 30 aristocratic families left their homes April 1st of 1873 and arrived in Victoria in 1874. Among the group were:
| Seth family | A man and wife with six sons & daughters from Glasgow. The wife and two of the children died after the ocean voyage and are buried in St. Louis. Three more children died after arrival in Victoria. The remaining father and son later moved to California. 1 |
| Mr. Chesshire | Lived at Francis White ranch four miles east and south of Victoria. Died when his horse threw him and dragged him to death. 1 |
| Captain Charles Prescott | From Strode Park, Kent 2 |
| Dr. Fenton Cameron | |
| Mr. Whitiker | A man who had accompanied Livingstone on his first vist to Africa. 2 |
| Jonas Waters | |
| George McDonald | |
| W. E. White | |
| David Fulton | |
| John A. White | |
| Alex White | |
| Francis G. White | |
| William Mack | |
| Thomas Carrick | |
| David Logan | |
| James Mack | |
| Sir Walter Maxwell | Only 25 when he emigrated. Erected a Catholic church in Herzog. |
| John Mack | |
| Sir George Grant | Founder of the Victoria Colony.
Grant purchased land which was populated with between two and
three hundred Englishmen located on that purchase.
Grant died in 1878 and was the first person buried at the Episcopal church at Victoria. |
| Alex Grant | |
| George Shields | |
| ? Prettyman | |
| George Philip Sr. | Married Jane Hardy |
| Alex Philip | Married Anne Hardy |
| Jane Hardy | Married George Philip |
| Anne Hardy | Married Alex Philip |
| John Duncan | |
| Walter Mason |
(1) Account of Anne Philip Scott in
the August 9,
1959 edition of the Hays Daily News.
(2) Article by Ruby Basye in the
February 10,
1957 edition of the Hutchinson News-Herald
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