Greenwood County was created on August 25, 1855 (Organized on 1862) as an Original County. The County Seat is Eureka. The County was named for Alfred B. Greenwood (1811-1889), U.S. congressman from Arkansas and later commissioner of Indian Affairs.
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 311 N. Main, Eureka, KS 67045-1321; Phone: (620) 583-8121.NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.
Greenwood County Clerks Officehas Birth Records from 1885-1911, Marriage Records from 1859 and Death Records from 1885-1911.
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.
Greenwood County Register of Deeds Officehas Land Records from 1857. Phone 620-583-8162
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.
Greenwood County Clerk of District Court has Probate Records from 1865 and Court Records from 1880. 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 Greenwood County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Greenwood 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 Greenwood County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Greenwood County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
Greenwood 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 Greenwood County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Greenwood 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 Greenwood County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Greenwood 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 Greenwood County Maps. Email us with websites containing Greenwood 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 Greenwood County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Greenwood 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 Greenwood County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Greenwood 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 Greenwood County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Greenwood 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 Greenwood County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Greenwood 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.
Greenwood County, one of the original 33 counties erected by the first territorial legislature, is located in the southeastern part of the state, the fourth county west from the Missouri line, and in the third tier north from Oklahoma. It is bounded on the north by Chase and Lyon counties, on the east by Coffey, Woodson and Wilson, on the south by Elk, and on the west by Butler and Chase.
As first laid out Greenwood county comprised a square area about equal to the adjoining counties, but later Madison county was disposed of, half of it being given to Lyon county and the other half to Greenwood, which made it irregular in shape.
The first settlement was made in 1856, by people from the south who entertained pro-slavery views. All but one of them left at the breaking out of the war. The next spring a number of settlers came to Madison and Lane townships. Among them were D. Vinning, Austin and Fred Norton, Anderson Hill, Wesley Pearson, Mark Patty, Myrock Huntley, E. R. Holderman, William Martindale, E. G. Duke, James and W. F. Osborn, Issac Sharp and David Smith. In July of the same year the following persons settled in the same neighborhood: Josiah Kinnaman, Archibald Johnson, Peter Ricker, Adam Glaze, John Baker, Wayne Summer and William Kinnaman. In the next two or three years the growth of the county in population was rapid, but most of the settlers being poor people, who had come to the new country to better their condition, money was an unknown quantity, and just as they began to realize a little income from their holdings the drouth of 1860 reduced them to the condition of starvation. Supplies could only be obtained in Atchison and had to be brought 160 miles by teams. Storms and exceedingly cold weather, together with the enfeebled condition of the teams from scanty rations, made it well nigh impossible to get food on which to subsist. Most of the stock died and the next spring found the settlers without animals with which to put in their crops. However, those who were able to overcome this difficulty raised a good crop in 1861.
The various accounts of the organization of the county as well as the addition of a half of Madison county do not agree as to dates. However, there is an act on the statute books of 1860, whereby the county of Greenwood was organized, Eureka made the temporary county seat, and the following men were appointed commissioners: James Ashmore, A. Clark and H. B. Slough. The act further provided that the commissioners should divide the county into townships, not to exceed three, and establish election precincts, and that an election for county officers should take place on April 4, 1860. For some reason these instructions of the legislature were not carried out for the next legislature (1862) passed an act organizing Greenwood county, stating in the preamble that, as Madison county had been divided and half of it given to Greenwood county, and as the citizens of that territory given to Greenwood county had now no government it was thought expedient to organize Greenwood county. The division of Madison county then must have taken place prior to 1862 instead of in 1867, as given by some historians. The act of 1862 appointed as commissioners, R. H. Gassoway, Franklin Osborn and M. E. Stratton, and directed them to meet at Janesville which was to be the temporary county seat. The commissioners were instructed to divide the county into townships and to establish election precincts ten days before March 4, 1862, at which time an election should be held to choose county officers. The act further provided that the first regular election of a full corps of county officers should take place at the regular election in Nov., 1862, before which time the county was to be districted and a commissioner elected from each district.
The commissioners met on March 14 and divided the county into the following townships: Lane, Pleasant Grove, Janesville and Eureka. The election was held on March 24, but it does not appear for what purpose, the commissioners having already appointed the county officers as they had been instructed to do by the act. These officers as appointed were: Probate judge, I. M. Todd; county clerk, W. M. Hill; register of deeds, E. Tucker; sheriff, James Steel; county treasurer, William Martindale. C. Cameron became register of deeds in place of Tucker, who declined, and D. Nichols was made sheriff instead of Steel.
The county was bonded in 1871 for $30,000 to build a court-house, and $20,000 more was added before the edifice was finished.
Greenwood county suffered considerably during the war period. It was the scene of violence from all quarters. It suffered especially because its people were divided on the slavery question and wrought personal and property damage against each other. It was exposed to the attacks of hostile Indians and both the Southern and Union guerrillas. Its villages were sacked and burned on a number of occasions. In 1861 a rough fort was built at Eureka and named in honor of Col. James Montgomery of the Tenth Infantry. It was erected by the home-guard under Capt. Benis and was occupied by them during the entire term of the war.
There was a strip of territory about 10 miles in width along the southern part of the county that had belonged to the Osage Indians and was not opened to settlement until 1870. This interfered with the early development of the southern portion of the county.
The end of the war did not altogether end outlawry as is evidenced by the assassination of William and Jacob Bledsoe, who had been arrested on charge of horse stealing in 1865. They were arrested merely on pretext and it is thought they were murdered by their guard. A man by the name of Robert Clark was also brutally murdered in his cabin on the Verdigris in the presence of his wife and children in 1866, by an outlaw named Wash Petty. In 1874 O. C. Crookham was shot while gathering corn in his field, by Alexander Harman, who was rendered insane by the settlement of a business matter between the two relating to a mortgage held by Crookham on the property of Harman.
Railroad negotiations began as early as 1870, and a number of bond elections were held during the '70s on propositions submitted by various roads. The bonds carried in almost every instance but the roads were not built. The first road to comply with its contract was the line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (at that time the Kansas City, Emporia and Southern), which enters the county about midway on the north line and runs directly south through Eureka and Severy into Elk county. This was in 1879. The next was the St. Louis & San Francisco, which was built in 1880. The third was what is now the Missouri Pacific, running directly across the central part of the county from east to west. This road reached Eureka in June, 1882. There are two other lines in the county, a line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe running along the east side of the county from Madison Junction to Toronto in Woodson county, and a line of the Missouri Pacific running from Madison east into Coffey county.
At present there are 15 townships in the county, 11 having been added since the organization of the county. They are Bachelor, Eureka, Fall River, Janesville, Lane, Madison, Otter Creek, Pleasant Grove, Quincy, Salem, Salt Springs, Shell Rock, South Salem, Spring Creek and Twin Groves. The towns and mail stations are, Eureka, Barry, Carrol, Fall River, Climax, Fame, Flint Ridge, Hamilton, Hilltop, lvanpah, Lamont, Lapland, Madison, Neal, Provo, Piedmont, Quincy, Reece, Ruweda, Severy, Star, Thrall, Tonovay, Utopia and Virgil.
The surface of the county, except for the bluffs along the streams, is undulating prairie. The bottom lands average one-half to one mile in width and comprise 10 per cent. of the total area. The timber belts which follow the streams are from 40 to 80 rods in width and contain hickory, burr-oak, Spanish oak, walnut, maple, elm, box-elder, mulberry, black ash and locust. Of the geologic deposits, blue limestone is abundant in the north, sandstone in the south, magnesian limestone in the west, and potter's clay in the southwest. Mineral paint has been found in the central and southwestern portions of the county and there is a vein of cement several feet in thickness in the central west. There is a salt spring in the southeast.
Fall river, flowing through the county in a southeasterly direction, is the principal stream. The Verdigris, Willow and Homer, all in the northeast, join just beyond the county line. Spring and Otter creeks are the two largest tributaries of Fall river.
Of the 739,000 acres of land in Greenwood county, 525,000 have been brought under cultivation. The total yearly income from farm crops exceeds five million dollars. The value of the corn crop in 1910 was nearly three-fourths of a million, grass and hay crops over half a million, and live stock nearly three millions. Kafir corn, wheat, oats, Irish potatoes and poultry are other important products. The assessed valuation of property for 1910 was nearly $34,000,000. The population was 16,060, making an average wealth of more than $2,000 per capita.
The following companies are currently offering free trials on their subscriptions from 7 to 14 days. You can receive more information by clicking the links below:
l