Guilford Township

Guilford Township. - October 8, 1869, Guilford tp. was organized in pursuance of a petition presented to the county board. It was erected entirely out of Clifton tp. L. F. Davis was the first settler in Guilford tp. He located on the Verdigris, about a mile above the present townsite of Guilford, in 1858, and was then the lowest settler on the river. In 1859 Moses Davis, a brother, settled adjoining. John Circle and Alex. Elder came in the same year. The Davis brothers returned to Iowa in 1860, on account of drouth, with 100 head of cattle and 150 hogs, to winter the stock. They came back to their places in 1861 and remained permanently. John Carter was one of the early settlers. About 1862, J. G. Winebright located in the Davis neighborhood. In May, 1861, J. H. Gunby had a log cabin almost completed just north of the town of Guilford, on the west side of the river, intending to settle, but the Indians objected and burned the cabin, and Gunby then settled on Buffalo. In 1865, the war terminating, quite a number of settlers came in, all taking bottom claims, and soon after the tide of immigration flowing into the county secured a resident for every eligible claim. T. C. and Steve Singleton located in 1867 and S. S. Benedict and F. Farwell in 1868. Wm. Sutton, Alex. Shawver, H. T. Amsden, Thos. Tracey, Wm. Ball and others, settled prior to 1865. Andrew Akin and his sons, Carlos G. and Chas. M., settled sometime in the fall of 1867 or spring of 1868, coming from Council Grove. Akins's saw mill was next set up on the townsite of Guilford, and a post-office, with Andrew Akin as postmaster, was established July 23, 1868. C. G. Akin was County Commissioner in 1870-71. The Guilford flouring mill was built in 1870. The first voting in the territory comprising Guilford tp. was done at Mary Ann Davis' place. Guilford was then a part of Clifton tp. The Osage Indians had a graveyard at Singleton's ford, on the east bank of the Verdigris, in early days.