Chautauqua County, Kansas

Towns & Places:

Cedar Vale

Chautauqua

Elgin – Ghost Town

Niotaze-Newport

Peru

Sedan – County Seat

Extinct Towns

One-Room, Country, & Historic Schools

Butcher Falls

Caney River

Chautauqua Hills

Ozro Falls

Lake Chautauqua

Sedan City Lake

Chautauqua County Photo Gallery

 

Chautauqua County, Kansas, is located in the southeastern part of the state. Its county seat and most populous city is Sedan. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 3,379, and it has a total area of 645 square miles, of which 639 square miles is land and 5.9 square miles is water.

The county is named after Chautauqua County, New York, the birthplace of Edward Jaquins, a Kansas politician who helped establish it.

Chautauqua County, formerly the southern half of Howard County, is located in the southern tier of counties and is the fourth west of the Missouri line. It is bounded on the north by Elk County, on the east by Montgomery County, on the south by the State of Oklahoma, and the west by Cowley County.

Kansas was once a pathway for traders and pioneers traveling west. In 1825, the Government began to remove the Indians from their land and place them on reservations. The Osage Indians occupied the land in the southern part of Kansas, which included Chautauqua County. At that time, there were no white settlers in southern Kansas; only Indians, wild game, and buffalo were there.

When Kansas became a territory in 1854, it eliminated Indian hunting grounds and opened it for white settlers. The Indians were removed to present-day Oklahoma. The first dozen years following this were filled with hatred and bloodshed. The majority of the early settlers in Kansas came from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, where they were small farmers, shopkeepers, and laborers who were eager to move west and start a new life.

The territorial years had brought freedom to Kansans, but the struggles had left little time for the pioneers to build better homes or improve their farms. When Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861, the pioneers had made few improvements to their land. During the Territorial years, what is now Chautauqua and Elk Counties was first known as Godfrey County, named for William Godfrey, a trader with the Osage Indians. In 1860, the name was changed to Seward County. In 1870, the name was changed to Howard County in honor of Major O.O. Howard, a soldier in the Union Army.

The general surface of the county was rough and broken, abounding in rocky ridges and high, bluffy elevations. Toward the north, it became more even, and in some places sufficiently smooth to cultivate; but a substantial portion of the county is incapable of being cultivated at all. There were, however, rich level bottom lands lying along the streams, susceptible to easy tillage and highly productive. It is estimated that the bottom lands comprise about one-fourth of the entire county, and from these, nearly all the agricultural products were derived.

The county was covered with a rich growth of wild grasses; however, with its numerous streams and springs of healthful water and abundant timber for shelter, it made this one of the finest stock-growing regions in the State.

The principal watercourses are the Big and Middle Caney Creeks and Salt Creek, each of which is fed by numerous other streams of varying sizes and importance. A considerable growth of timber is also found in this county, and although the greater portion and the best quality is found along the streams, in some places, it covers the hills and draws. The principal varieties of the timber are cottonwood and white oak, and other varieties in limited quantities, while that upon the bluffy lands is made up of a species of oak, vulgarly known as “black jack.”

Coal was found in some parts, but in such limited quantities as to render its development unprofitable, the veins being surface veins of from only three to 15 inches in thickness. A few specimens of lead ore were discovered in the southern part of the county, but further investigation failed to reveal the presence of the mineral in quantities sufficiently large to justify its development, and the enterprise was abandoned. There is, however, an almost inexhaustible supply of sand and limestone of excellent quality and valuable for building purposes, which abounds generally throughout the county. Pottery and fire clay were found in some localities, but in small amounts; the latter has been utilized to some extent.

Chautauqua County was not settled until after the Civil War. The first white man to occupy land was Richard Slater, who took a claim in the Salt Creek Valley in Salt Creek Township in July 1868. Although the land still belonged to the Osage Indians and was not open to settlement until 1870, some people had already made homes in the vicinity before that time. Among these pioneers were William Bowcher, in Lafayette Township; O. Hanson, Harrison Township; H.S. Halliday, Sedan Township; Alexander Shawver, Caneyville Township; George M. Ross, Summit Township; John W. Morris and John Sutton, in Belleville Township, all of whom came in 1869. In 1870, the population of Howard County was 2,794.

L.P. Getman established the first store in the county at Elgin, and John Lee, William Gamble, and Beadle Welsh started the first sawmill at the same location, which they brought from Wisconsin in 1870. It was at this place that the first preaching in the county was held by Reverend S. Records, in the first schoolhouse that was erected, with W.C. Watkins as the first teacher. Watkins, it is claimed, was the first settler in the county.

An election was held on February 14, 1871, to relocate the county seat. Belleville (later renamed Peru) received the highest number of votes, so the county seat was moved there. This was the first of several elections to relocate the county seat. A petition signed by 3/5 of the legal electors was presented to the County Commissioners in 1872, and an election was held. Still, the results were not canvassed due to probable fraud, as the contesting towns of Peru, Elk Falls, Longton, and Boston cast more votes than the towns had legal voters. The Judge of the District Court ordered the County Commissioners to meet and canvass the election returns. The Commissioners called upon the County Clerk, Frank Clark, to produce the election returns for the county seat election. Mr. Clark in answer to said demand says, “that on the night of the 24th, some poor, dirty, low-livered wretch without fear of God in his heart but animated by the spirit of the Devil did break open the desk of the County Clerk and take, steal and carry away the election returns.” He couldn’t produce the returns.

In 1871, the sheriff was authorized to buy six pairs of shackles and handcuffs. Because there was no jail in the county, its citizens were paid to board the prisoners. That year, a man named McClarning murdered Mr. Jones. The trouble arose at a dance that was held a short distance south of Sedan, at which Jones made some remark concerning some of the ladies, which the other resented, causing a disturbance, resulting in Jones’ murder. McClarning was arrested, tried, and found guilty, and was sent to the state penitentiary.

In the spring of 1872, the murder of Mr. Harper by his brother took place, the scene of the affray being in the vicinity of Peru. The quarrel in which the murder occurred arose concerning a water bucket.

In 1873, a petition was filed in the office of the County Clerk praying that an election be ordered for the relocation of the county seat. The election was held, the commissioners canvassed the votes, and Elk Falls received the majority of the votes, and Boston was a close runner-up. A second election was set up with just Elk Falls and Boston on the ballot. This time, Boston received the majority of the votes, but the election’s legality was questioned. Therefore, Judge Campbell declared Elk Falls the county seat.

On January 20, 1874, approximately 150 armed men entered Elk Falls and seized everything related to the county seat, including books, papers, records, files, and furniture. No resistance was met from the citizens of Elk Falls. They didn’t take the county safe, which was so heavy it had not yet been moved from Peru. Since the County Treasurer had absconded with the county funds and destroyed the county tax records, the safe was empty.

The county records and furniture were scattered about Boston in various places and watched by armed guards. Sentinels were on lookout along the road, and on the second day after the raid, a guard rode in and reported a posse was approaching. The alarm was sounded. Sheriff Eli Titus and about 30 armed deputies were met by armed Boston men, barricades of wagons, boxes, and other items piled in the road. The sheriff halted to appraise the situation. Two Boston men rode out to meet the sheriff, who told them they could come into town, but not the posse, and that they could take no prisoners.

Sheriff Titus returned to Elk Falls and called Governor Thomas A. Osborne for assistance. The Governor and the Adjutant General took the train to Independence and were transported overland to Elk Falls. The Governor began recruiting a militia to go to Boston and retrieve the county records. The Bostonians took advantage of this time to move the records out of town. The story is told that a homesteader living near Boston, loaded his farm wagon with the county documents, tied on camping equipment and his sod buster plow, hitched up his oxen, and disappeared to Cowley County.

Sheriff Titus returned to Boston with warrants for the arrest of several men, most of whom were out of town. A few, however, including Mattingly and Nulty, gave themselves up. They were arrested and held prisoner in Elk Falls, living comfortably at public expense until both sides grew weary of the arrangement and the prisoners were released. The county records were returned to Elk Falls.

With the dispute over the county seat and the financial difficulty due to the County Treasurer absconding with the county money and destroying the tax records, the process for dividing Howard County was presented to the state legislature. The legislature gave its approval on June 1, 1875, to dissolve Howard County and create Elk County with Howard City as the county seat and Chautauqua County with Sedan as the county seat.

The court upheld the division, and the necessary changes were made, thus bringing to a close a bitter and expensive county seat war that was hindering development. Howard County’s debt, most of which was incurred in useless county seat elections, was divided equally between the two new counties. By the time the county was organized in 1875, its population had exceeded 7,000.

For offices, they occupied an old frame structure, the only building on the townsite, which had been unoccupied for some time. Immediately, a printing office, two small stores of mixed stock, and a boarding house were erected.

Just following the creation of Chautauqua County in 1875, its population was 7,417.

The debt of Chautauqua County at the beginning was $30,000. In order to avoid trouble with the new county seat, Sedan offered to build a courthouse and donate it to the county, considering that the county seat would remain there. Private donations funded the building, and its construction was fraught with the most significant difficulties due to the county seat’s unsettled location. The construction was under the management of H.B. Kelly, who was the paper’s proprietor. The walls and roof were built at a cost of $4,000 and turned over to the county. This proved satisfactory, and Sedan became the permanent county seat. It was a two-story stone structure where several county offices were located on the lower floor, and the upper floor was used for a courtroom.

The county is divided into 12 civil townships, including: Belleville, Caneyville, Center, Harrison, Hendricks, Jefferson, Lafayette, Little Caney, Salt Creek, Sedan, Summit, and Washington. The towns and villages number more than a score, the principal ones being Sedan, the county seat, Brownsville, Cedar Vale, Center, Chautauqua, Cloverdale, Colfax, Elgin, Farmersburg, Grafton, Hale, Hewins, Jonesburg, Leeds, Lowe, Monett, Niotaze, Peru, Rogers, Sedan, Spring Creek and Wauneta.

In 1875, two men by the name of John Bybee and Jesse Peterson, living in what is known as “Hell’s Bend” in the southwest part of the county and who had been long-time friends, got into a quarrel which almost resulted in the loss of life. On July 4, Bybee, in company with others, went to Peterson’s residence, a log house, and shot at Peterson through a crack between the logs, but without effect. Bybee was arrested and brought to trial, which was delayed for one reason or another. It lasted between two and three years and was finally acquitted. The old feud, however, remained unabated, and in 1877, the parties came into contact again at Cedarvale, and operations resumed. Bybee shot at Peterson without effect, and Peterson, in return, shot his antagonist through the jaw. Peterson was held for trial and then discharged, and soon afterward left the county to go to Texas. Following this escapade, Bybee fell a mortal victim to a shot fired by a man named Fell, whom Bybee had accused of stealing his horses.

On July 1, 1876, the county issued bonds for $18,060, due between 1885 and 1891, at an interest rate of 10%. These bonds funded the county’s indebtedness. Later, in October of the same year, another issue of bonds was made, to the amount of $7,560, which were given in exchange for bonds already due.

In Sedan in 1877, a substantial stone jail with steel cages was built. The county sheriff’s residence was also attached to the jail.

By 1878, the county’s population had increased to 9,246, a rise of 1,829 in just three years. In 1879, there were 10,537, representing a one-year increase of 1,291. In 1882, the population numbered about 12,000.

In 1880, the school population exceeded 2,000, and by 1881, the money raised through taxation for school purposes had exceeded $71,000. The school population in 1882 was double that of 1880, and the valuation of school property had increased from $4,500 to $52,200. There were three graded schools in the county at that time. Currently, all schools are graded. The school population is 4,000, and there are 93 districts, all of which are supplied with good, substantial buildings, most of which are made of brick or stone.

The 1880 census showed the school population of the county to be 2,097, while in 1882, it was 4,421, more than double the 1880 figure. The number of teachers employed in 1880 was 54, and by 1882, it had increased to 100. The estimated value of school property in 1880 was $4,550; in 1882, $52,200. The tax raised in 1881 for school purposes aggregated $71,242.48. At that time, there were three graded schools in the county, located in Sedan, Peru, and Cedar Vale.

By that time, Chautauqua County boasted ten manufacturing establishments, aggregating a capital of $21,900. These were mainly flour mills and sawmills, with one cotton gin and a few other minor establishments.

In 1882, the number of acres planted to wheat was 1,796, rye, 44; corn, 46,430; barley, 6,513; cotton, 456; flax, 348; tobacco, 5; broomcorn, 19; millet and Hungarian, 6,936; timothy, 42; clover, five. Of fruit trees, there were in bearing 28,435 apples, 888 pears, 131,729 peaches, 2,546 plums, and 8,160 cherries. The number of fruit trees not bearing was apple, 46,140; pear, 2,213; peach, 46,539; plum, 3,883; cherry, 10,873. The number of acres in raspberries, 19; blackberries, 21; strawberries, 2. The number of acres in the vineyard is 28, and the number of gallons of wine made is 17. Of dairy products, 246,865 pounds of butter and 4,830 pounds of cheese were produced. The value of animals slaughtered and sold for slaughter was $228,308, and the production of wool amounted to 30,171 pounds.

Chautauqua County’s population peaked at 12,297 in 1890.

In 1910, there were two railroads in the county: the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe and the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The former, a branch that diverged from the main line at Cherryvale in Montgomery County, entered the county from the east and traversed the southern portion, with the line terminating at Cedar Vale on the western border. The Missouri Pacific crossed from east to west a few miles south of the center. This company operated a line that entered the northeast corner of the county and connected with the first at Peru Junction. In 1910, the total railroad mileage was 94.

In 1910, there were over 416,000 acres of land in the county, of which 250,000 were under cultivation. The value of farm products was nearly $1,500,000, of which Indian corn amounted to $167,000 and Kafir corn to a similar figure. The field crops furnished about half the total income, and barnyard products about half. At that time, the assessed valuation of all property was $13.93 million, and the population was 11,429.

From 1917 to 1918, the second and present courthouse was constructed in Sedan, Kansas. The two-story, red-colored brick, limestone, and concrete structure was built in the Classical Revival style by L.F. Nebelong. It was designed by George P. Washburn & Sons of Ottawa, Kansas. The rectangular-shaped building is located on spacious, landscaped grounds in the center of Sedan. The east front has steps rising to the first story, with a large portico supported by four high Ionic columns that rise to a wide header at the roofline. In the interior, the County District Court courtroom is located along the south side of the second story. The building houses the County District Court of the 14th Judicial District. On the west side is a three-story addition. It is located at 215 North Chautauqua Street.

Afterward, the population continued to decline nearly every decade, and school districts were consolidated and eliminated.

Today, Chautauqua County students are served by Cedar Vale USD 285 and Chautauqua County USD 286 in Sedan, Kansas. Several one-room schools from the past are still standing in the county.

Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated April 2025.

Also See:

Kansas Counties

Kansas Destinations

Kansas Ghost Towns

Kansas Towns & Cities

Sources:

American Courthouses
1878 Gazetteer and Business Directory, R. L. Polk & Co.
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Cutler, William G.; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Chautauqua County Historical and Genealogical Society
Wikipedia