Records from Ellsworth County

Abstract: This collection contains photocopies of 1870 county ordinances, a journal of the Ellsworth County's Justice of the Peace civil case docket, and microfilmed records related to the activities of the District Court, register of deeds, City of Ellsworth, and U.S. commissioner. Microfilmed District Court records include judgments, liens, case records, testimony, dockets, journals, jury and witness books from 1868 to 1901 (the bulk are from the 1870s and 1880s). City of Ellsworth microfilmed records include cemetery records (1871), the City Clerk's City Council minutes and ordinance journal (1871-1928), and the U.S. Commissioner's docket (1868-1869). The original volumes are kept by the Ellsworth County government.

Administrative History: Established by the Kansas Legislature on February 26, 1867, Ellsworth County, located in central Kansas, covers approximately 717 square miles. It was named after Fort Ellsworth, which had been named in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Allen Ellsworth of the 7th Iowa Cavalry (Company H), who supervised construction of the fort in 1864.

As of the 2000 census, the population of Ellsworth County, KS, was 6,525. The county is composed of Ellsworth, the county seat, and nineteen townships: Black Wolf, Carneiro, Clear Creek, Columbia, Ellsworth, Green Garden, Langley, Lincoln, Noble, Palacky, Sherman, Thomas, Valley, Wilson, Trivoli, Ash Creek, Empire, Garfield, and Mulberry.

[Ellsworth County’s Official Web Site, "County Information," http://ellsworthcounty.org/Information.html (Accessed June 16, 2009.)]

[Kansas State Historical Society, "Kansas Counties -- Ellsworth County, Kansas," http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_counties/view/county:EW (Accessed 21 December 2010.)]