Welcome!

Jefferson 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 Jefferson County ancestors.

What's New at Jefferson County KSGenWeb since your last visit
Search Jefferson County KSGenWeb for a specific name

Please consider contributing your pieces of Jefferson county family history. Corrections, updates, and additions to this site are always welcome. Our combined efforts can make this a great site for all who visit!

County Coordinator: YOU? Jefferson KSGenWeb is Available for Adoption.

Temporary County Coordinator: Rebecca Maloney maloneys7193@gmail.com

COUNTY FORMATION

Jefferson County, KS was name for President Thomas Jefferson. He initiated the Louisiana Purchase, which included the Kansas Territory. Jefferson County, Kansas is one of the counties formed and organized by the first territorial legislature. The first visit of white men of which there is any record is the expedition of Professor Say, which entered the county at the south west corner of Delaware township and proceeded to the falls of the Delware (then the Grasshopper) river. Camp was made on the night of Aug 27, 1819. The next day they crossed the northern boundary. The first settlement was made by Daniel Morgan Boone son of the famous Kentuckian Daniel Boone, who was appointed "farmer for the Kansas Indians" by the government. He located in 1827 on the north side of the Kaw River in the extreme southern part of of now what is Jefferson County, and started to teach the Kansas Indians the art of agriculture. His son was born Aug 22, 1828, was probably the first white child born in KS. Boone maintained the first agency for Indian lands in the state. Subsequently a settlement grew up, the ruins of which were found near the present village of Williamstown by settlers in 1854. In 1851 a few Mormons (LDS Church) families en route from MO to Salt Lake City, UT stopped in Jefferson County, about where Thompsonville is now located. They remained about two years and made some improvements. Three log cabins were built were bulit and about 15 acres of land cultivated. Three of the women in the company died of chlorea. They were buried in the edge of the timber and tombstones put up with the names cut on them. One was Mrs. Archer and one was a Mrs. Platt. Finding they could not obtain the lands in KS they moved on.