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Ellsworth County KSGenWeb is a free genealogical site about the history of the county. It is a member of KSGenWeb, which is a member of USGenWeb®. We hope you find helpful clues for your research of Ellsworth County ancestors.

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COUNTY FORMATION

Ellsworth County and the town of Ellsworth were organized in 1867 and named for Fort Ellsworth, which was named for Lieutenant Allen Ellsworth, the commander of the military party that established the fort in June 1864 (Andreas, 1883). Fort Ellsworth was abandoned in 1866, and the larger Fort Harker was established about 1 mile northeast. Fort Harker was abandoned by the Army in 1873. The 1960 census lists the population of Ellsworth County as 7,677 with the population of the communities as follows: Ellsworth, 2,361 [2,965 in 2000]; Wilson, 905 [799 in 2000]; Holyrood, 737 [464 in 2000]; Kanopolis, 732 [543 in 2000]; and Lorraine, 157 [136 in 2000]. [Note: Ellsworth County population was listed as 6,525 in 2000 U.S. census (KU Institute for Policy & Social Research).] Between 1940 and 1965, the county population decreased by 2,178. Most of the decrease was in rural population, but Ellsworth and Holyrood increased in population during this period. The increase was about equal to the loss of the other towns in the county during the same period.