Records from Labette County

Abstract: This collection contains records from Labette County dating between 1867-1921. The records were created by the probate court and Chetopa City Council. All probate court records are on microfilm and comprise the majority of the collection. These include marriage records, 1867-1920; will records, 1868-1921; and probate court journals, 1868-1919. The paper records include a volume of city ordinances from Chetopa dated 1879-1881.

Administrative History: Labette County in southeastern Kansas on the Oklahoma border was established on February 26, 1867. Tradition asserts that the name is from the French words meaning 'the beast.' The story goes that Labette Creek, the second largest stream in the county, was named by a group of French trappers after an encounter with a skunk; the county then took its name from the creek. Other sources, however, state the stream and the county are named for Pierre Bete [also spelled Baete or Beatte], a French-Canadian trapper and trader who married into the Osage tribe and lived along the Neosho River in the 1830s and 40s. Pierre Bete served as a guide for Washington Irving during the author's tour across the prairie in 1832. Parsons is the largest city, Oswego is the county seat and second largest city, and Chetopa is the third largest city. Townships include Canada, Elm Grove, Fairview, Hackberry, Howard, Labette, Liberty, Montana, Mound Valley, Mount Pleasant, Neosho, North, Osage, Oswego, Richland, and Walton.

[Kansas State Historical Society. "Kansas Counties - Labette County, Kansas." http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_counties/view/county:LB (accessed 29 December 2010.)]