Shawnee County, KansasEdit This Page

From FamilySearch Wiki

This Kansas-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it. While this page is under construction, may we suggest Cyndi's List.

County Courthouse

Shawnee County Courthouse
200 E 7th
Topeka, KS 66603
Phone: 785.233.8200 

County Clerk has birth, marriage, and death  records 1894-1911;
Probate Court has marriage records 1856-1906;
Clerk District Court has divorce, probate and court records;
Register of Deeds has land records from 1855^[1]

History

Parent County

1855--Shawnee County was created 30 August 1855 as an original county. County seat: Topeka ^[2]

Boundary Changes

Record Loss

Places/Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

• Douglas
• Jackson
• Jefferson
• Osage
• Pottawatomie
• Wabaunsee

Resources

Cemeteries

The Topeka State Hospital, a publicly funded institution for the care and treatment of the mentally ill in Topeka, Kansas, was in operation from 1872 to 1997. For some, the grounds of the hospital became their final resting place. There is a searchable index to the 1157 individuals buried in the hospital cemetery. With only a few exceptions, individuals were buried without a headstone.

Because most individuals were buried in unmarked graves, hospital officials used a grid pattern and designated gravesites by their distance from stone markers placed at the end of each row. The 'Location' is the distance in feet and inches from the eastern marker west to the gravesite.

Church

LDS Ward and Branch Records

• Topeka

Court

Land

Local Histories

Maps

Migration

Early migration routes to and from Shawnee County, Kansas for European and African American settlers included:

• Kansas River
• Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon^[3]
• California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California^[4]
• Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah^[5]

Military

•  During the Civil War men from this county enlisted in the 1st Kansas Infantry Regiment, Company A, Second Kansas Infantry Regiment, Second Kansas Cavalry Regiment, Third Kansas Cavalry Regiment, Fifth Kansas Cavalry Regiment, Sixth Kansas Cavalry Regiment, Seventh Kansas Cavalry Regiment, Eighth Kansas Infantry Regiment, Ninth Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 10th Kansas Infantry Regiment, 11th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, 12th Kansas Infantry Regiment, 14th Kansas Cavalry Regiment,  15th Regiment, Kansas Cavalry, Company F, 16th Regiment Kansas Cavalry, 17th Regiment Kansas Infantry, First Kansas Colored Regiment, Second Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment, First Regiment Kansas Battery, Third Regiment Kansas Battery, Eighth Regiment Kansas United States Volunteers, 18th Regiment Kansas Cavalry and 19th Regiment Kansas Cavalry.
  

Newspapers

Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Newspaper Index. Click on "newspaper index". The keyword index contains articles, obituaries and events in the Topeka Capital Journal from 1989-1999.

Obituaries

Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Obituaries Index. Click on "obituary index".  The Index  covers 1906-1935 and 1971 to the present.

Also, a considerable number of obituaries from 1936-1971 have been indexed.

Probate

Taxation

Vital Records

Societies and Libraries

Shawnee County Historical Society website: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/schs/

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
• Topeka Kansas Family History Center

Web Sites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Family History Library Catalog
• Shawnee County, Kansas Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)

References

1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Shawnee County, Kansas page 256, {WorldCat|50140092|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
2. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
3. ↑ National Park Service, "(Auto Tour Route) Maps" in Oregon National Historic Trail at http://www.nps.gov/oreg/planyourvisit/maps.htm (accessed 18 July 2011).
4. ↑ National Park Service, "(Auto Tour Route) Maps" in California National Historic Trail at http://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvisit/maps.htm (accessed 18 July 2011).
5. ↑ National Park Service, "Auto Tour Route Maps" in Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail at http://www.nps.gov/mopi/planyourvisit/maps.htm (accessed 18 July 2011).