Established 1976 President: Marion Hearn Vice Pres: Barbara Grimmett  Sec.: Silva Scholes  Trea.: Jean Fanshier Directors: Earl Hayes, Kennie Clark, Don Hornbaker, Lawrence Fischer and Zelma Lee Wendelburg  Exec. Sec.: Michael Hathaway 100 N. Main Stafford, KS 67578 Phone: 620-234-5664 MUSEUM HOURS: Tues thru Thurs: 1:30-3:30 pm Saturday: 1:00-3:00 pm (through nice weather and when volunteers are available) Our hours are not written in stone. If these hours are not convenient, please call for a special tour, 620-234-5664. MUSEUM OFFICE/LIBRARY HOURS: The museum office/library is open from 9am-3:30pm weekdays and is located at 100 N. Main, directly across the street from Duckwalls Variety Store. GRAY STUDIO GLASS PLATE NEGATIVES PROJECT The Stafford Co. Historical Society was awarded a $3500 grant to continue the glass negatives project. Principle funding for this program is provided by the Kansas Humanities Council, a nonprofit cultural organization promoting understanding of the history, traditions and ideas that shape our lives and build community. We need help cleaning, cataloging and entering data into the computer for 5,500 of the 4x5 negatives included in this grant cycle. Anyone interested in volunteering is invited to drop by the museum or call 620-234-5664.  Staff at Forsyth Library, Fort Hays State University, are scanning the glass negatives we have processed so far. Those photos are available on their website, along with whatever info we found in Mr. Gray's 11 original ledgers. The link below will take you to the collection. W.R. GRAY STUDIO PHOTOS

Stafford Co Genealogy Santa Fe Trail Research Kansas Humanities Council

	Settlement of Stafford County did not begin until 1874. Around May 1, 1874, a caravan of 20 covered wagons arrived in the western part of Reno County. Four families crossed the line into Stafford County and took up homesteads. This settlement in eastern Stafford County became known as the Ardrey settlement.   In 1875, an act by the Kansas State Legislature attempted to eradicate Stafford County by allotting the land to Barton, Pawnee and Pratt counties. In 1879, the Supreme Court declared the action unconstitutional and restored the rightful boundaries. The rest is history ...
	We will do look-ups and limited research in the materials listed below for $10 per hour with a one-hour minimum. Most of the research we can do here doesn't go over an hour and we won't go over an hour without instructions to do so. Photocopies are 25 cents each, plus postage. There is no charge for an unsuccessful search. Among resources at the museum are several county history books, some out of print, some available for sale at the Museum: Stafford County Photo CD. Contains 664 historical postcards and other photographs of county scenes and landmarks from museum's archives. $20, ppd. The CD is indexed and user-friendly. Etched in Stone: Tombstone Inscriptions of Stafford County, Kansas (1990, out of print). A History of Stafford County, by Frank Steele (1982, 143 pp., out of print). Stafford County History 1870-1990 (1990, 304 pp., $29 plus shipping, $5). No Cyclone Shall Destroy: The Story of St. John, Kansas, by Clelland Cole and Helen Reuber (1979, $14 plus shipping from Goodman Library, 406 N. Monroe, St. John, KS 67576). Macksville, Kansas Community History 1886-1986 (1986, out of print, indexed available at museum library). Family Heritage Album -- Stafford County, Kansas (1975, 1 used copy, $49, ppd.). The History of Hudson, Kansas, by Geneva Brim (1987, one used copy, $10). On the Corner of the Square (St. John history), by Helen Malin Reuber (out of print). Stafford, Kansas: Crossroads of Time 1885-1985 (1985, 1 used copy available, $39, ppd.). A Chautauqua Reader: Episodes and Anecdotes of Stafford, Kansas, edited by Melanie Farley (1983, out of print). Stafford High School History: Alumni Directory 1891-2000. (1991, $10) Re-Echo 1887-1987: St. John, Hudson, Antrim (USD #350 alumni, out of print, index available at the museum). Stafford County Museum Video Tour, two-hour tour of both floors of main building, Crawford and Milton annexes and Weekley Library in its original location, $15, ppd. Civil War Veterans of Stafford County and Veterans of Stafford County (two scrapbooks which list local veterans from the Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Gulf War). STAFFORD COUNTY NEWSPAPERS Other county publications include about 50 known newspapers published in the county since 1877. Most of the newspapers are available either on microfilm or hard copy at four locations: Stafford County Museum in Stafford; Goodman Library in St. John; Larabee Library in Stafford and Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka. For a listing of these newspapers and where they are located, send self-addressed, stamped envelope to Stafford Co. Museum, 100 N. Main, Stafford, KS 67578. MOST STAFFORD COUNTY NEWSPAPERS ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC AT THE MUSEUM LIBRARY Thanks to a grant from Golden Belt Community Foundation at Great Bend, Kansas, we have our newspaper collection organized on shelves. Of the approximately 50 newspapers published in Stafford County since 1877, we have 29 of them represented in our collection. We can do obituary lookups for $5 each (this includes research and copy fee), IF we have at least a MONTH and YEAR of death. There is no charge for an unsuccessful search. Due to time constraints, we cannot do extensive research in the newspapers but they are available for public use Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (It's a good idea to call ahead.)
	Other resources available at the Museum: STAFFORD CO. RURAL SCHOOL RECORDS On March 9, 2009, the Stafford Co. Register of Deeds turned custody of the rural school records over to the historical society. These records are available for research. Included are annual reports (most beginning in 1904) of the district clerk that, besides financial and other statistics of the school, record the name of every pupil, his birthday, residence and name of parent. There are a few Term Registers maintained by teachers in the various individual schools. We also have ledgers and annual reports from the County Supt.'s office dating back to 1881 as well as a few Souvenir Booklets from some of the schools that list names of teachers and students. 1900 and 1910 Stafford County census on microfilm. Stafford County cemetery records. Obituary file of county residents (since 1979 and some before). Published family histories. Vertical family files and family panels. High school annuals and school photos from county schools as far back as 1907. LEDGER RECORDS The birth, death and cemetery ledgers (which are not complete for the whole county), Pensioner's Roll, Tubbs Church Log, Chautauqua Reader,Hit and Miss Scrapbook [excerpts from E.A. Briles columns] and historical manuscripts about Stafford County are indexed. [The birth ledgers are indexed only through 1929.] Photocopies from the ledgers are 50 cents ea. BIRTH RECORDS: City of Stafford (1911-1960); Albano Twp (1913-1915); Cooper Twp (1913-1915); Putnam Twp (1913-1920; Rose Valley/Albano twps and City of St. John (1920-1926). DEATH RECORDS: City of Stafford, 1936-1946; Albano Twp (1914-15); Rose Valley/Albano twps (1913-1926). CEMETERY RECORDS: Leesburg (Rose Valley Twp) 1911-14; Pleasant Ridge (Lincoln Twp) 1889-? Stafford County Marriages 1880-1895 and 1887-1896, compiled by Pauline Garner, 1968. Tubbs Ministry Log: Stafford Co. marriages, baptisms, funerals and church membership lists, 1901-1926, recorded by Rev. Edwin Henry Halleck Tubbs (1862-1927). Military Discharge Records as Recorded in the Register of Deeds Office, St. John, Stafford County, Kansas, as of Aug. 1, 1989. Pensioner's Roll, 1883. Large collection of genealogy books and periodicals. Seven books of heraldry, 1622-1930. Stafford County phone books and farm directories: STAFFORD city phone books, most between 1920-2009. ST. JOHN city phone books, many between 1937-1990. MACKSVILLE/HUDSON/SEWARD phone books, ca. 1925, 1961. STAFFORD COUNTY farm directories, many between 1949-2001. LOUIS C. WEEKLEY CIVIL WAR AND HUMANITIES LIBRARY The Weekley Library consists of 1,037 books, the majority of which are U.S. history with strong emphasis on the Civil War. The centerpiece of the collection is the almost complete 168-volume set of War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. STAFFORD COUNTY LAND RECORDS For information on how to research land records in the Register of Deeds Office, send self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) to Register of Deeds, Stafford Co. Courthouse, 209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576 or call 620-549-3505. MATERIALS IN PROBATE JUDGE'S OFFICE STAFFORD COUNTY COURTHOUSE, ST. JOHN, KS According to letter of March 24, 1986: "... probate records, marriage license records back to 1879. Marriages 1879-1910 are cross-indexed on rolodex cards. After 1910 marriages must be checked in the index of each marriage record book. Also have old Naturalization books, very old and delicate. Must make an appointment to research records." Some information from the courthouse may be obtained through Goodman Library Friends of the Library, info below ... ADDITIONAL STAFFORD COUNTY OBITUARY INFO St. John, Hudson and Seward newspapers, back to 1879, are on microfilm at Goodman Library in St. John. here is also a card catalog death index for those newspapers. Friends of the Library now provides a fee-based service that helps out-of-town patrons obtain information. This can include documentation from the microfilmed newspapers and other sources at the library as well as land, probate, marriage and naturalization records at the Stafford County Courthouse in St. John. E-mail Christie, Snyder@usd350.com, with your request. (Most of the newspapers there [as well as Macksville & Cassaday newspapers 1886-1993] are also available in hard copy at the museum. Museum staff can do obit look-ups for $5 per obit, if date (at least month and year) is provided. No charge for unsuccessful search.) For information regarding obtaining obituaries from newspapers on microfilm back to 1877, from Stafford, Larabee Library, 108 N. Union, Stafford, KS 67578. Phone: 620-234-5762, between 2-5 p.m. ($2.50 per obit if found.) There is a death index through 1965 at the library. PLEASE NOTE: This is the official Stafford County Historical and Genealogical Society's website. Information on this website is updated regularly and supersedes information on any other websites about our Society.

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