The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-02-19
ORIGIN OF COUNTY NAMES
Brief sketches of Kansas County
Names. Compiled by Kansas Of
fetal of Topeka.

Brief sketches giving the origin of
Kansas county names are given here
with. The data. have been prepared by
The Kansas Official, official publica-
ton of the Kansas Official Council.
Additional sketches will be published
from time to time in the columns or
The State Journal:
Allen-Organized in 1855; county
seat lola. This county was named
in honor of William Allen, of Ohio,
strong advocate of slavery, who was
outspoken as a United States senator
in opposition to laws for Kansas ter
ritory that would enfranchise the
negro. He was afterward governor of
Ohio.
Anderson-Organized in 1855; county
seat, Garnett. Aas a mark of respect
for the speaker pro tenn of the first
Kansas territorial legislature. Joseph
c. Anderson, of Missouri, the pro-
slavery faction of that day. named this
county for him. He figured in the
"Wakarusa war" in December, 1855,
and he was among those who volun
teered to march under the black flag"
to Lawrence.
Acknowledgement in 1855; county
seat, Atchison. David r. AtchiSon,
senator from Missouri, and president
of the United States senate when the
Kansas territorial act was passed, re-
eeived the honor of having this county
named for him. He was a very bitter
member of the contingent that urged
the sacking of Lawrence and Joined
the mob that laid waste that town May
81, 1856.
Barber-Organized in 1878; county
seat, Medicine Lodge. One of those
killed on account of his free-state be-
liefs, Thomas w. Barber. settled in
Douglas county when the territorial
strife was at its height. and who was
killed December 6, 1855, near Law
renee, was remembered in the naming
of this county.
Barton-Organized in 1872; county
seat, Great Bend. The name of Miss
Clara Barton, the distinguished and
beloved philanthropist of the Civil war
period, whose interchangeable work in
the interest of the health and sani-
who left her home in Massachusetts
to do actual work in the field, is per-
petuated in the name of this county.
Bourbon-Organize in 1855; county
seat, Fort Scott 1t is a moot ques-
for the brand of liquor SO dear to the
Kentuckian, or to duplicate the name
of a Kentucky county, famous for hav-
ing been one of the nineteen counties
organized in that, state in 1885 by the
Virginia legislature, before Kentucky
became a state. The Kentucky county
was named for the Bourbon dyna sty
of France, because one of the reigning
family had rendered great service to
the colonists in their struggle for inde-
pendence. Col. Sam Williams, a MEM
Der of the lower house from Fort Scott.
and colonel in the rebel army, in
sisted that the honor was meant for
the renowned southern beverage which
had been extensively used as pro-
Queer of courage in the southern army.
Brown-Organized in 1855; county
seat, Hiawatha. This county was
named in honor of Albert G. Browne,
United States senator from Mississippi.
who spelled his name with final "e.''
This county was named Browne, but
the last letter was dropped from the
statutes when it was discovered that
the county seal had been engraved
without the final "e" This NAV or
may not have been an accident, for
Senator Browne, tho reelected in 1859,
withdrew from congress following the
attempted secession of the southern
states.
Butler-Organized in 1855; county
seat, Eldorado. Contrary to some be-
Benjamin F. Butler, afterward a Union
general. but for Andrew F. Butler,
United States senator from South Caro-
lima for twelve years. He favored the
of slavery into the new
state, and urged the territorial legisla
ture to adopt such laws as would per-
petuate slavery.