Shawnee County, Kansas Genealogy

Guide to Shawnee County, Kansas ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The County was named for the Shawnee people. The County has Topeka as its seat and the County was created August 25, 1855. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

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

Populated Places
The following are locations in Shawnee County, Kansas:

Biographies
All of the family biographies from the History of Shawnee County, Kansas and Representative Citizens (1905) by James L. King, published by Richmond &amp; Arnold are available free online at My Genealogy Hound.

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.

State and Territorial Census Records

 * 1855-1925 - Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925 at Ancestry — ($), Index and images; covers census years 1855-1859, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925
 * 1860 - at FamilySearch — Index and images
 * 1860 - 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Kansas Territory at Ancestry — ($), Index and images


 * 1865 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1875 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1885 - at FamilySearch — images
 * 1895 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1919-1961 - Kansas, City and County Census Records, 1919-1961 at Ancestry — Partial index (4 counties) and images

Federal Census Records
The 1870 Census was the first Federal Census taken for Kansas after it became a state in 1861. For links to Federal Census indexes, see Kansas Census.

Church Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Topeka

African Americans
Cox. Thomas C. Blacks in Topeaka, (Shawnee County) Kansas, 1865-1915. :a social history - Baton Rouge: Louisiana State university Press c.1982 236 p. F689.T6 C69 1982

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records
 * Land records at Kansas Historical Society
 * 1873 Land Plat book for Shawnee County - image of plat book
 * 1898 Land Plat book for Shawnee County - image of plat book
 * 1913 Land Plat book for Shawnee County - image of plat book
 * 1921 Land Plat book for Shawnee County - image of plat book

For more information see Kansas Land and Property
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796-1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1861-1936 - U.S. Homestead Records 1861-1936 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images

Local Histories
Online County Histories
 * Historical Sketch of Shawnee County, Kansas. 1876.  By Frye William Giles. Topeka, Kansas : Commonwealth Steam Book and Job Printing House. Online at: Internet Archive.
 * History of Shawnee County Kansas. 1905. Edited by James L. King.  Chicago, Illinois : Richmond & Arnold.  Online at: Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($);.
 * William W. Cone's Historical Sketch of Shawnee County, Kansas. 1877.  By William W. Cone.  Topeka, Kansas : Kansas Farmer Printing House.  Online at: Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books;.
 * Witness of the Times : a History of Shawnee County. c1976.  By Roy D. Bird, Douglass W. Wallace, Shawnee County Historical Society.  Topeka, Kansas : Shawnee County Historical Society.  Online at: ;.

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


 * Kansas 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 Records

 * 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
Kansas Newspapers Online Kansas Newspaper Catalogs
 * Kansas Newspapers at Newspapers.com - ($), free to Kansas residents through Kansas Historical Society
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Kansas newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Kansas newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Kansas newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites
 * Kansas Online Historical Newspapers - contains a list of known Kansas newspapers online and the websites they are found on
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper

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, many obituaries from 1936-1971 have been indexed.

Probate Records
'''Online Records


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

Birth

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

Marriage

 * 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 $

Death

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

Family History Centers

 * Topeka Kansas Family History Center

Societies
Topeka Genealogical Society 2717 SE Indiana Ave Topeka, KS 66605 Telephone: 785-233-5762 E-mail:[mailto:webmaster@tgstopeka.org webmaster@tgstopeka.org] Website

Shawnee County Historical Society Cox Communication Heritage Education Center 1116-1118 SE Madison Avenue PO Box 2201 Topeka, KS 66601 Telephone: 785-234-6097 Website

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records
 * Shawnee County, Kansas Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)