Histories

Morton County

Morton County was created in 1873 as Kansas County from the unorganized lands in southwestern Kansas. It was absorbed in 1883 by Seward County. (Not to be confused with the old Seward County of eastern Kansas.) February 20, 1886, it was reorganized under the name of Morton County. Prior to organization Morton County was attached to Hamilton County for judicial purposes. The county got it's name from Indiana Governor and U.S. Senator, Oliver P. Morton.

 

Between 1821 and 1880, the The Sante Fe Trail was primarily a commercial highway, passing through Morton County, connecting Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

 

The Homestead Act of 1862 may have brought your ancestors to Morton County from about 1883, when the government opened up the county to homesteaders, until the early 1900's. To search land records for Morton County, check with Morton County Register Of Deeds for land descriptions of the land your ancestor settled or search the Bureau of Land Management, NM, OK, KS, TX

 

The Sante Fe Railroad brought it's first passengers to Morton County December 3rd, 1925.

 

Whereas, the Homestead Act or the Railroad may have brought your ancestors to Morton County, The Dust Bowl could have driven them to other parts of the country. See this article from the San Francisco Chronicle, July 11, 1937.

 

To find out more about Morton County Kansas, see these books from the Kansas State Historical Society, available through interlibrary loan.

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Contributed 2002 by Carolyn Ward, transcribed from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... / with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence. Standard Pub. Co. Chicago: 1912. 3 v. in 4.: front., ill., ports.; 28 cm. Vols. I-II edited by Frank W. Blackmar, Volume __, Pages ____.

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