Barber County was created on February 26, 1867 (Organized on July 07, 1873) from Peketon Territory. The County Seat is ?. The county is nearly in the form of a rectangle, with Kingman County cutting out a six-mile-square block in the northwest corner. The county is thirty-three miles north to south and thirty-six from east to west, with a total area of 1,134 square miles. The County was named for Thomas W. Barber, a Free State settler in Douglas County, who was killed by pro-slavery forces near Lawrence on 6 December 1855.
PLEASE READ FIRST!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
All Departments below can be contacted by clicking the link, by contacting the Phone number below for each department or contacting the County Courthouse at 120 East Washington Street, Medicine Lodge, KS 67104-1421; Phone: (620)886-3961.NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.
Barber County Clerks Officehas Birth Records from 1891-1911, Marriage Records from 1874 and Death Records from 1891-1911.
The Register of Deeds shall have custody of and safely keep and preserve all the books, records, deeds, maps, papers and microphotographs deposited or kept in the office of the Register of Deeds. The Register of Deeds shall also record or cause to be recorded all deeds, mortgages, maps, instruments and writings authorized by law to be recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds and shall perform all other duties as are required by law.
Barber County Register of Deeds Officehas Land Records from 1867. Phone: 620-886-3981
The Register of Deeds shall have custody of and safely keep and preserve all the books, records, deeds, maps, papers and microphotographs deposited or kept in the office of the Register of Deeds. The Register of Deeds shall also record or cause to be recorded all deeds, mortgages, maps, instruments and writings authorized by law to be recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds and shall perform all other duties as are required by law.
Barber County Clerk of District Court has Probate Records from 1867 and Court Records from 1874. The Clerk of Court is part of the Judicial Branch of local government and as such is required to maintain a record of all documents filed with the courts, keep a record of all court proceedings, and collect various fines and forfeitures ordered by the court and specified by statute.
Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Barber County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Kansas Election List, 1854: Listing of voters from Kansas in 1854 taken from Congressional report in 1856
For the most part, tax records remain at the local level. Assessment and tax rolls are kept, permanently, by the County Treasurer's office.
Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Barber County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
Barber County Treasurers Office
The County Treasurer's Office by Kansas State law is responsible for the tax billing, collection and distribution of tax money for the State, County, Cities and all other taxing entities that levy Ad Valorem and/or special assessment taxes.
Click Here to Search Kansas Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Office of Vital Statistics, 1000 S W Jackson, Suite 110, Topeka, KS 66612; (785) 296-1400 Info; (785) 296-3253.
All Fees below cover a five-year record search – one certified copy is issued if the record is found and if not found, the fee is retained. You will receive either the certified copy or a letter explaining the search conducted and that no record was located. All Request Filled requests take 2-4 weeks when ordered by mail (Application for Birth, Marriage, Divorce or Death) or 2-5 Days when you order ONLINE.
They have the following records:
Birth Certificates: In Kansas, Birth certificates began being filed with the Office July 1, 1911. The Kansas Historical Society and/or the County Clerk holds birth records before July 1, 1911.
Cost: $12.00 fee for a certified birth certificate copy is $7 for each additional copy of same record ordered at same time.
Delayed Certificates of Birth: are on file with dates of birth dating back to the 1860's. In 1940, statutory authority was received by the Office which allowed individuals still alive in 1940 and later with no prior birth record filed to submit certain documentation to file a Delayed Certificate of Birth. A request for a Delayed Certificate of Birth is made in the same manner as one for a regular birth certificate – just specify the date of birth. If the date specified is between the late 1860's and July 1, 1911, a Delayed Certificate of Birth search will be conducted.
Death Certificates: In Kansas, Death certificates began being filed with the Office July 1, 1911. The Kansas Historical Society and/or the County Clerk holds death records before July 1, 1911.
Cost: $13.00 fee for a certified birth certificate copy is $8 for each additional copy of same record ordered at same time.
Marriage Certificates: In Kansas, Death certificates began being filed with the Office May 1, 1913. The Kansas Historical Society and/or the County Clerk holds marriage records before May 1, 1913.
Cost: $12.00 fee for a certified birth certificate copy is $7 for each additional copy of same record ordered at same time.
Divorces: Divorce Certificates began being filed with this office July 1, 1951. The divorce decree is not filed with this office. The decree is the court document detailing the settlement of the divorce. The divorce certificate is completed by the plaintiff's attorney and contains only basic information – names of husband and wife, date of marriage, date of divorce, etc. Certified copies of divorce decrees are obtained from the Clerk of the District Court in the county where the divorce was filed.
Cost: $12.00 is the cost for the search, which includes one copy of the divorce certificate, if found. Additional copies of the same record, requested at the same time as the first, are $7.00 each.
Order On-Line: To obtain a certified copy of a vital record by on-line purchase with a credit card, please link to VitalChek.
Order In Person: Go to Curtis State Office Bldg., 1000 SW Jackson, Ste. 120, Topeka, KS 66612. Open 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. weekdays.Payment made by cash, check, money order, or credit card.
Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Barber County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Kansas Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Barber County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Kansas Census, 1850-90: This database contains indexes to the Kansas (U.S.A.) portions of the 1850-18700 U.S. Federal Censuses as well as to the 1855-1859 state and territorial census, and the 1890 Veterans Schedules. Information contained in these indexes can include name, state, county, township, year of record, and name of record set.
Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1915: This database contains state censuses for Kansas from 1855-1915. Information available in this database includes: name, age, gender, race, relationship to head of household, birthplace, marital status, and place of enumeration. Additional information about an individual may be listed on the original record.
Genealogy Atlases has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Kansas showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Kansas showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps. The Kansas Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches, cemeteries, roads, ect... free for viewing or download here
Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Maps. Email us with websites containing Barber County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Kansas Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. A list of Wars fought on American.
Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Barber County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Kansas Civil War Soldiers: Listing of over 20,000 men who served in the Union Army from Kansas, 1861-1865
Leavenworth, Kansas Veterans, 1915-16: One of the oldest and most important communities in Kansas, Leavenworth has been home to thousands of military veterans. This database is a listing of residents of the Western Branch of the Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers between 1915 and 1916.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Kansas (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Barber County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Kansas Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Kansas Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
The earliest churches were established among the native tribes settled in Kansas long before it was organized as a territory. The Methodist, Baptist, Society of Friends, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Congregational churches all had early missions which grew as the white settlers immigrated.
There is no central registry of cemetery locations in Kansas. The Woman's Kansas Day Club has identified and located many Kansas cemeteries. The project's results are at the Kansas State Historical Society which has additional collections of published cemetery inscriptions, though not comprehensive, listed in their card catalog.
The Register of Deeds in each county is often able to assist in locating cemeteries. Certain maps distributed by the Kansas Department of Transportation show the location of known cemeteries in relation to county roads.
Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Barber County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Kansas Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Barber County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Barber County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Kansas Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Transcribed from Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... Standard Pub. Co. Chicago : 1912.
Barber County, one of the southern tier, is bounded on the north by Pratt county, east by Kingman and Harper counties, south by the State of Oklahoma and west by Kiowa county. It was organized in 1873, from territory that was originally embraced in Washington county. The county was named for Thomas W. Barber, who was killed near Lawrence on Dec. 6, 1855. It was intended when the county was organized that it should bear the name "Barber," but in some manner the spelling was changed to "Barbour" and stood that way until 1883, when the legislature passed an act changing the name to "Barber," its present form, according to original intention. Its area is 1,134 square miles and, according to the Kansas Agricultural reports of 1908, it then ranked 73d in population.
In the winter of 1871-2 the first white settler, a man named Griffin, located a ranch on a branch of the Medicine Lodge river, about a mile from the present site of Sun City, in the northwest part of the county. The following spring E. H. Mosley, and two men named Lockwood and Leonard, located on the Medicine Lodge river in the southeastern part of the county near the present town of Kiowa. Mosley brought with him goods for Indian trade and spent his time hunting buffalo and buying hides for the eastern market, while the other men broke some of the prairie and engaged in farming. This displeased the Indians, who opposed white settlement in this section, and they raided the homes of the pioneer farmers. In the fight that ensued Mosley was killed, but the other two men saved themselves by remaining behind a stockade. The Indians left after killing most of the stock. In Oct., 1872, Eli Smith joined this settlement, and a store was opened there by a man named Hegwer in the spring of 1873. Derick Updegraff settled on land near the present site of Medicine Lodge in Dec., 1872, and Salmon P. Tuttle drove a herd of cattle near this claim about the same time. During the year claims were taken up in the vicinity by William Walters, W. E. Hutchinson, Jake Ryan, A. L. Duncan, David Hubbard and John Beebe, while Samuel Larsh and a man named Wyncoop took up claims on Cedar creek 3 miles from the Updegraff ranch. Lake City, on the upper Medicine Lodge, was settled by Reuben Lake about the same time. During the spring and summer of 1873 a number of people came and the northern part of the county became settled. Ralph Duncan was the first white child born in the county, in the spring of 1873, and the first wedding took place in July, 1874, when Charles Tabor married a Miss Moore.
The first record of the county commissioners is dated July 7, 1873. The board consisted of S. H. Ulmer, L. H. Bowlus and J. C. Kilpatrick. On Sept. 1 the board made a contract with C. C. Bemis for a courthouse to cost $25,000, and the clerk was directed to issue warrants for that amount, but the building was never erected. On Sept. 2, 1873, W. E. Hutchinson was appointed immigration agent, and warrants to the amount of $1,000 were drawn in his favor. On Oct. 6 G. W. Crane received the appointment as advertising agent and was given $5,000 or as much of that amount as was needed to advertise the advantages of the county. The first regular election of county officers took place in Nov., 1873. The vote of the Medicine Lodge district was thrown out for some reason, and the officers chosen by the remainder of the county were: M. D. Hauk, clerk; Jacob Horn, treasurer; D. E. Sheldon, probate judge; Reuben Lake, sheriff; S. B. Douglas, superintendent of public instruction; C. H. Douglas, clerk of the district court; M. S. Cobb, register of deeds, and M. W. Sutton, county attorney. The county was divided on Nov. 7, 1873, into three districts for the election of commissioners, and on Feb. 11, 1874, a special election was held to determine the question of issuing bonds to the amount of $40,000 for the erection of a court-house. The result of the election was a majority of 41 votes against the issue, but under a law of March 7, 1874, the county commissioners issued the bonds.
Indian depredations continued through the spring of 1874 and Cutler's History of Kansas (p. 1,521) says: "It was in the summer of 1874 that the so-called Indian raid occurred—when a band of Indians, led by a number of white men, it is alleged, came into this county and murdered several citizens up the Medicine river." For protection the citizens built stockades, one of which was erected near the center of the present city of Medicine Lodge. It was made of cedar posts set upright in the ground. Another stockade was built 12 miles up the river at Sun City, and for further protection a company of militia was formed to fight the Indians.
Barber county had but one contest for the location of the county seat—that of Feb. 27, 1876—which can hardly be called a contest, as Medicine Lodge received more votes than all the competing towns. The first school district of the county, which included Medicine Lodge, was organized in the spring of 1873, and the school building erected that year was used until 1882. Early religious services in the county were held by traveling Methodist preachers, but no regular organization was affected until 1878. The first newspaper was the Barber County Mail, which was started on May 20, 1879, by M. J. Cochran. It was sold the next year to J. W. McNeal and E. W. Iliff, who at once changed the name and started the Cresset. The first large body of cattle held in the county was a herd of Texas cattle brought by Solomon Tuttle in the fall of 1872, which wintered along the Medicine river. The first graded cattle were brought into the county in the spring of 1873 by William Carl, who held them on the river about 12 miles above Medicine Lodge.
The early railroad history of the county consists of one experiment. On Aug. 27, 1873, a special election was held to decide the question of subscribing $100,000 to the stock of the Nebraska & Southwestern railroad, and issuing bonds in a like amount in payment therefor. The measure was carried, the bonds were issued, and though the railroad was never built they became a valid lien against the county. At the present time the county has over 90 miles of main track road within its bounds. A line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe crosses the extreme northeast corner; another branch of the same system enters the county on the east and crosses to Medicine Lodge, thence northwest into Pratt county; still another line of the same system crosses the southeast corner and runs into Oklahoma, with a branch north from Kiowa to Medicine Lodge.
The eastern part of the county is undulating and in some places nearly level, while the western portion is hilly, breaking into bluffs along the streams. In the east the river bottoms vary from one and a half to two miles in width, but in the western part are narrower and deeper. The timber belts are usually about a half mile wide along the water courses, the native trees being walnut, elm, cottonwood, hackberry, ash, mulberry, cedar and willow. The county is a good agricultural country and stock raising is an important industry. Winter wheat, corn and Kafir corn are the staple products, while there are more than 50,000 bearing fruit trees on the farms of the county. Barber county is exceptionally well watered. All the streams have a general southeast course. Medicine Lodge river, the largest stream, flows diagonally across the county from northwest to southeast. Little and Big Mule, Big Sandy and Salt Fork creeks in the south, and Elm creek in the north are also important streams. Springs are abundant throughout the county, while good well water is reached at from 10 to 12 feet on the lowlands. Soft red sandstone is abundant along the streams and an excellent quality of brick clay is found in several localities, the best being near Medicine Lodge. Gypsum is found in the central part of the county and shipped to different points.
The county is divided into the following townships: Aetna, Cedar, Deerhead, Eagle, Elm Mills, Elwood, Hazelton, Kiowa, Lake City, McAdoo, Medicine Lodge, Mingona, Moore, Nippawala, Sharon, Sun City, Turkey Creek and Valley. According to the U. S. census of 1910 the population of the county was 9,916, a gain of 3,322 over 1900, and the Kansas agricultural report for the same year gives the value of farm products as $1,564,471, wheat leading, with a value of $675,094; corn second, with a value of $441,720.
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