Doniphan County, Kansas Genealogy

United States Kansas  Doniphan County

Guide to Doniphan County, Kansas ancestry, family history and genealogy and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

County Courthouse
Doniphan County Courthouse Main Street Troy, KS 66087 Phone: 785.985.3513 Clerk District Court has birth and death reords1898-1910, marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1856. Register of Deeds has land records from 1858. A yearly county census is taken.

History
Named for Col. Alexander W. Doniphan, of Missouri. He commanded a regiment of cavalry during the Mexican War, marching across the plains, and taking a very prominent part in the conquest of New Mexico. He was a zealous partisan in the effort made to extend slavery into Kansas.

Parent County
1855--Doniphan County was created 30 August 1855 as an original county. County seat: Troy

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Populated Places
Bendena Blair Brenner Denton Doniphan Elwood Fanning Highland Iowa Point Leona Moray Palermo Purcell Severance Sparks Troy Wathena White Cloud

Extinct Communities
Arizona, Belmont Trading post, Bryan, Buffalo, Charlestown, Cold Spring Pony Express Station, Columbus, Cottonwood Springs, Evansville, Fairview, Green Top, Iola, Lafayette, LaPorte, Lawrence, LeRoy, Lewiston, Mount Vernon, Normanville, Palermo, Petersburgh, Rogersville, Smithton, Syracuse, Walnut Grove.

Kansas Heritage gives details on all these locations.

Neighboring Counties

 * Andrew County, Missouri
 * Atchison
 * Brown
 * Buchanan County, Missouri
 * Holt County, Missouri
 * Richardson County, Nebraska

Note: The wandering Missouri River forms Dohiphan's northern and eastern borders separating it from the Missouri counties of Holt, Andrew, and Buchanan. The main population center for the area is St Joseph, Buchanan, Missouri which, because of the meander of the river, almost surrounds the Doniphan town of Elwood. Doniphan's larger towns; Elwood, Wathena, and Troy; all lay in the vicinity of St Joseph, Missouri. It is important to look for records of residence of Doniphan in these surrounding Nebraska and Missouri counties especially Buchanan, Missouri.

Cemeteries
Kansas State Historical Society holds these titles on microfilm. They may be available through interlibrary loan:


 * Cemetery record, Mt. Olive Cemetery, Troy, KS, 1871-1913 [AR 6783]

List of Doniphan cemeteries in 1906 according to Transactions of the Kansas State Horticultural Society, vol. XXVIII (1906), pp. 325-377. With additions from Doniphan County, Kansas, GenWeb and Doniphan County Cemeteries. A surname index to many of these cemeteries, "Cemetery Readings of Doniphan Co., KS" by Speedy &amp; Gail Stewart, can be found at Doniphan County Cemeteries.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Wathena

Doniphan County Clerk
(785) 985- 3513 Fax (785) 985-3723 Mailing Address – P.O. Box 278 - Troy, Kansas 66087 Physical Address – 120 East Chestnut - South Side 1st Floor - County Courthouse - Troy, Kansas Office Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.

District Court
(785) 985-3582 &amp; (785) 985-3583 Fax (785) 985-2402 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 295 - Troy, Kansas 66087 Physical Address - 120 East Chestnut - 2nd Floor County Courthouse -Troy, Kansas

Kansas State Historical Society holds these titles on microfilm. They may be available through interlibrary loan:


 * Civil appearance dockets, 1858-1923 [AR 6751-6755]
 * District court journals, 1858-1918 [AR 6755-6762]
 * Judgement docket and record book, 1858-1926 [AR 6762-6763]
 * Marriage records, 1856-1921 [AR 6746-6749]
 * Naturalization index, 1881-1942 [AR 6750]
 * Naturalization certificate stubs, 1925-1928 [AR 6750]
 * Naturalization declaration of intention, petitions, and record, 1906-1934 [AR 6750]
 * Naturalization final record, 1859-1910 [AR 6763-6766]
 * Naturalization miscellaneous citizenship papers, 1905-1934 [AR 6750]
 * Probate court index and abstracts, 1855-1938 [AR 6767, AR 6778]
 * Probate court journals, 1858-1923 [AR 6778-6783]
 * Probate case files, 1857-1917 [AR 6796-6797, AR 6784-6793, AR 6798, AR 7066-7067, AR 11934]
 * Will records, 1882-1915 [AR 6767-6769]
 * Other probate records, 1858-1935 [AR 6766-6778, AR 6784-6798, AR 7066-7067]

Register of Deeds
Phone: (785) 985-3932 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 73 - Troy, Kansas 66087 Physical Address - 120 E Chestnut Troy, Kansas 66087

Kansas State Historical Society holds these titles on microfilm. They may be available through interlibrary loan:


 * Indexes, 1856-1908 [AR 6651-6652, AR 6681-6683]
 * Deed and mortgage records, 1856-1919 [AR 6649, AR 6652-6683, AR 6698]
 * Troy City Cemetery record, Mt. Olive Cemetery, 1871-1913 [AR 6783]

1882 Doniphan County Plat Book

Probate
Online Records


 * 1803 – 1987 Kansas Wills and Probate Records 1803-1987 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Local Histories

 * Bendena Centennial Committee. Bendena, Kansas, Centennial, 1887-1987. N.p.: 1988. (K978.1/-D71/B432).
 * Brazelton, Ralph. History of Wathena, Kansas. N.p.: 1978. (K978.1/-D71/ Pam.v.1/no. 4).
 * Bridges, C.G. A Sketch of Doniphan County, Kansas. Troy, KS: Bulletin Office, 1878. (K978.1/-D71/ Pam.v.1/no. 2).
 * Caldwell, Martha B., ed. "Records of the Squatter Association of Whitehead District, Doniphan County". Kansas Historical Quarterly 13 (Feb. 1944): 16-35. (SP 906/K13q). Available online.
 * Cutler, William G., "Doniphan County," History of the State of Kansas . Chicago, IL: A. T. Andreas, 1883. Available online.
 * "Doniphan Village Twice Site of Once-Thriving Community", Atchison Daily Globe (2nd). Dec. 11, 1949. [1 p.]. (Reel: A1859).
 * Gray, Patrick L. Gray's Doniphan County History: A record of the happenings of half a hundred years . Bendena, KS: Roycroft Press, 1905. (Reel: MF 295, no. 7). See the whole book online; or a complete transcription.
 * Historical Plat Book of Doniphan County, Kansas with illistrations. (1882) Chicogo, IL: J S Bird. (Digitized) Along with maps with family names on indivdual plots, this book contains a county history, population, demographics, organizations, government, newspapers, biographical sketches, and more.
 * Kansas State Historical Society. Doniphan County Clippings, 1858-1988. (4 vols.). Topeka, KS: KSHS, n.d. (K978.1/-D71/Clipp.).
 * ________. Index to Gray's Doniphan County History . Topeka, KS: KSHS, 1974. (Reel: MF 295, no. 8).
 * Kercher, Delno. History of Leona, 1885 . N.p.: n.d. (K978.1/-D71/Mss/no. 1).
 * Lynn, C.P. " Makers of Kansas History: A Series of Sketches of Characters &amp; Events ". Ness County News &amp; Ness City Times. May 26-June 30, 1906. [6 pp.]. (Reel: N497).
 * Montgomery, Walter B. "Illustrated Doniphan County, 1837-1916" . [Troy] Weekly Kansas Chief. Apr. 6, 1916. [386 pp.]. (Reel: T2069).
 * Smith, R.F., ed. Doniphan County, Kansas: History &amp; Directory for 1868-9 . N.p.: Smith, Vaughan &amp; Co., 1868. (Reel: LM 475, no. 1). Also available on Google Books.

Maps
Plat Book of Doniphan County Kansas. (1904) (Digitized) This atlas includes plats of the townships and largest towns of Doniphan County with the names of landholders. It also includes a patrons' directory.

[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pyle/Plat1882/DPC_Plat_Text_TOC.html#TABLES. Historical Plat Book of Doniphan County, Kansas with illistrations. ] (1882) Chicogo, IL: J S Bird. (Digitized)

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for European and African American settlers included:


 * Missouri River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

Military
Men from this County enlisted in 1st Infantry Regiment, Company A.

Newspapers
Kansas State Historical Society houses one of the largest newspaper collections. They have 225 reels of Doniphan newspapers which may be available through interlibrary loan. Titles include Highland Vidette 1892 - 2002, Weekly Kansas Chief 1873 - 1918, Kansas Chief 1920 - 2003, Severance Weekly News 1891 - 1926, Wathena Times 1905 - 2001, White Cloud Globe (Tribune) 1892 - 1946, White Cloud Review 1883 - 1921, and many more.


 * Many digitized Kansas newspapers are available online through the Library of Congress Chronicling America project.

School Records
Kansas State Historical Society holds these titles on microfilm. They may be available through interlibrary loan:


 * Scholastic census, 1892-1916 [AR 6683-6685, AR 6699-6701]

Vital Records
Kansas State Historical Society holds these titles on microfilm. They may be available through interlibrary loan:


 * Marriage records, 1856-1921 [AR 6746-6749]
 * Vital statistics, 1898-1916 [AR 6749]

Birth Records

 * 1818 - 1936 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1885 - 1911 Kansas, Births and Christenings Index, 1885-1911 at Ancestry.com — index $

Death Records

 * 1885 - 1930 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1885 - 1930 Kansas, Deaths and Burials, Index, 1885-1930 at Ancestry.com — index $

Marriage Records

 * 1811 - 1911 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1840 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1855 - 1911 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1855 - 1911 Kansas, County Marriages, 1855-1911 at Ancestry.com — images $

Societies and Libraries
Doniphan County Historical Society 105 North Main Troy

Ma Hush Kah Historical Society Route 2, Box 16 White Cloud, KS 66094

Doniphan County Library District Central Library 105 N. Main P. O. Box 458 Troy, KS 66087 (785) 985-2597

Branches:


 * Elwood Branch Library (913) 365-2409; 410 N. 9th / Elwood, Kansas 66024
 * Highland Branch Library (785) 442-3078; 306 W. Main / Highland, Kansas 66035
 * Wathena Branch Library (785) 989-4834; 206 St. Joseph / Wathena, KS 66090

Highland Community College Library (785) 442-6000 505 West Main St. / Highland, Kansas 66035

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project for Doniphan County has maps, histories, and information on local libraries, societies, cemeteries, schools, newspapers, and more.
 * Kansas on the Net Doniphan County contains a variety useful history and location details about Doniphan County including libraries, schools and government agencies.
 * Doniphan County, Kansas Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Doniphan County, Kansas Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)