Rice County, Kansas Genealogy Facts and Records

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Rice County History and Information

Rice County Facts

Click HERE to see full size D.O.T. County Map

Rice County was created on February 26, 1867 (Organized on 1871) from Peketon Territory. The County Seat is Lyons. The County was named for Brig.-General Samuel A. Rice (1828-1864), U. S. Volunteers, who died 6 July 1864 of wounds received at Jenkins' Ferry, Ark.

Counties adjacent to Rice County are Ellsworth County (north), McPherson County (east), Reno County (south), Stafford County (southwest), Barton County (northwest). Cities and Towns Include Lyons, Sterling, Little River, Chase, Bushton, Geneseo, Alden, Raymond, Frederick. See also County History and County Courthouse for more details.

Kansas Settlers, 1854-1879: Listing of over 3200 early settlers of Kansas
The Rice County Official Government Website
Search the Kansas USGenWeb Archives
Rice County, Kansas History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Records at the Rice County Courthouse

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 101 West Commercial Street, Lyons, KS 67554-2727; Phone: (620) 257-2232. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Rice County Clerks Office has Birth Records from 1895-1911, Marriage Records from 1872 and Death Records from 1892-1911.
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.

Rice County Register of Deeds Office has Land Records from 1871.
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.

Rice County Clerk of District Court has Probate Records from 1871 and Court Records from 1872.
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.

Click Here to Search Kansas Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Rice County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Rice 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
Kansas Voter Registration Lists, 1854-1856: Voter registration lists from the territory of Kansas between 1854 and 1856
Kansas Settlers, 1854-1879: Listing of over 3200 early settlers of Kansas
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Rice County, Kansas Court Books at Amazon.com

Rice County Tax Records

See Also Military Records in Kansas

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.

Below is a list of online resources for Rice County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Rice 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.
Kansas Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 2601 Central Avenue, Dodge City, KS 67801; (620) 225-1951
National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1776 D Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20006; Phone: (202) 628-1776
Kansas Society of Sons of the American Revolution
National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Kansas (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
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.
1883 List of Pensioners on the Roll - Veterans or widows of veterans living in Kansas who have applied for a Pension
Rice County, Kansas Military Books at Amazon.com

Rice County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Kansasa Genealogical Addresses

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 Rice County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Rice County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Rice County Historical Society, 105 West Lyon, Lyons 67554
Local Kansas Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
Kansas State Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka KS 66615-1099
Kansas State Genealogical Society, 2109 Twentieth Avenue, Monroe, WI 53566
Kansas Genealogical Society, PO Box 103, 700 Avenue G and Vine Street, Dodge City, KS 67801; (620) 225-1951
National Archives - Great Lakes Region (Chicago), 7358 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, Illinois 60629-5898; 773-948-9001; E-mail: chicago.archives@nara.gov (Maintains retired records from Federal agencies and courts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Kansas.)
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.
Kansas Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Rice County Church & Cemeteries

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.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Rice County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Rice County Tombstone Transcription Project.

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 Rice County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Rice County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Kansas Obituary 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 Rice County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Rice County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Rice County ] [ Kansas ] [ Main Page ]
Rice County USGenweb Archives
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Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
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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.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Rice County, Kansas Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Transcribed from Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... Standard Pub. Co. Chicago : 1912.

Rice County, in the central part of the state, is in the second tier of counties west of the 6th principal meridian, and in the fourth tier north of the Oklahoma line. It is bounded on the north by Ellsworth county; on the east by McPherson; on the south by Reno, and on the west by Stafford and Barton. It is crossed a little to the west of the center by the 1st guide meridian west. It was named in honor of Brig.-Gen. Samuel A. Rice, of the United States volunteers, who was killed at Jenkins' Ferry, Ark., April 30, 1864.

Although Rice county was created and its boundary lines fixed by the legislature of 1867, it was not until 1870 that it was settled. The first homesteader was John A. Carlson, who came in February of that year. He was followed by Andrew J. Johnson, C. S. Lindell, August Johnson, John Enrick Johnson, John P. Johnson, Q. W. Peterson, John Quincy Adams of Mass., and Leonard Russell. In Aug., 1870, R. M. Hutchinson, A. J. Howard and J. E. Perdue, of the firm of Hutchinson & Co., stopped upon the Little Arkansas with 4,000 head of cattle. Howard and Perdue returned the next January and located claims. A great many settlers came in 1871. A colony from Ohio located at Union City, 3 miles from the present city of Lyons. Buffalo was still plentiful in the vicinity, and was a great help to the homesteaders as a source of food and cash income. The first frame houses were built in this year, the lumber being hauled from Salina, a distance of 60 miles.

The county horticultural society was organized with Rev. J. B. Schlicter, president. The first murder among the settlers was committed on Aug. 27, 1871, when Edward Swanson shot and killed P. B. Shannon. The first natural death occurred the next day, and was that of John Chitty. The first birth was that of twins, George and Angie McKinnis, in September of that year. The Santa Fe trail ran through Rice county and there are a number of records of disasters to travelers prior to the coming of the settlers.

The county was organized on Aug. 18, 1871, the temporary county seat being fixed at Atlanta (Lyons). The officers appointed were: Commissioners, Daniel M. Bell, Theodore A. Davis and Evan C. Jones; clerk, Edward H. Dunham. The first election was held in September, when the following officers were chosen: County commissioners, Moses Burch. William Lowery and S. H. Thompson; county clerk. T. W. Nicholas; treasurer, T. C. Magoffin; coroner, J. W. Holmes; register of deeds, G. W. Poole; surveyor, T. S. Jackson; probate judge, Levi Jay; county attorney, H. Decker; clerk of the district court, William H. Van Osmun. Atlanta received 64 votes for county seat and Union City 48 votes. In the general election of Nov., 1871, Henry Fones was elected coroner; W. P. Brown, county attorney; Evan C. Jones, county surveyor and superintendent of public instruction; and J. M. Leidigh commissioner in place of S. H. Thompson. In March, 1872, the south tier of Congressional townships was detached and added to Reno county, in order that Peace (now Sterling) would thus be too far from the center ever to become the county seat. In 1876 an election for relocation of the county seat was held. Peace received 336 votes against 457 for Lyons, which up to this time had been called Atlanta. Rice county was at first in the 8th judicial district and attached to Ellsworth for judicial purposes. It was later changed to the 9th district.

The first newspaper was the Rice County Herald, started at Atlanta in 1872 by a Mr. Frazier. The first marriage was performed on Jan. 1 of that year, the contracting parties being James A. Moore and Ada Cartwright. The first train passed through the southwest corner of the county on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. in July, 1872. The Salina, Atlanta & Raymond railway company was organized in 1872, but later became defunct without building any track. The first business establishment was Salady's grocery store at Atlanta in 1871. The first postoffice was at the same place, Earl Joslin, postmaster.

Soon after its organization the county was divided into three commissioner's districts, and these districts were later divided into townships as follows: 1st district, Farmer, Eureka, Lincoln, Pioneer, Raymond, Center and Valley; 2nd district, Sterling, Atlanta and Victoria; 3d district, Union and Washington. Five more have been organized since—Gait, Harrison, Mitchell, Rockville and Wilson. The towns in the county having postoffices are Lyons, Alden, Bushton, Chase, Crawford, Frederick, Gait, Geneseo, Little River, Mitchell, Pollard, Raymond, Saxman, Silicia, Sterling and Wherry.

In 1871 there were 130 persons of school age in the county. The next year there were 293, and there were 9 organized districts. The total expenditures for school purposes in that year was $118. The county normal institute was established in 1877. In 1882 the number of persons of school age had increased to 3,488. In 1907 the number of persons of school age was 4,456, and the organized districts numbered 94.

Three railroads pass through the county. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe enters in the east and crosses west through Lyons into Barton county. A branch road diverges at Little River, in the eastern part and runs northwest into Ellsworth county. Another line of the same road from Hutchinson, Reno county, to Ellinwood in Barton, crosses the southwest corner through Sterling. A line of the St. Louis & San Francisco enters in the southeast and crosses northwest through Lyons into Ellsworth county. A line of the Missouri Pacific railroad enters on the southern boundary and crosses north through Sterling and Lyons into Ellsworth county. Another line of this road crosses the extreme northern portion east and west. There are 151 miles of track in the county.

The surface in the western portion is nearly level, in the central and eastern parts somewhat rolling. Extending many miles along the Little Arkansas are sand hills which have been thrown up by the winds throughout a long period of time. Limestone is found in the northeast and the southeast; sandstone in the northeast and near Raymond in the southwest; red ochre is in the northeast; there are beds of gypsum in Washington township in the southeast; immense beds of salt underlie the county, and the finished product is manufactured at Lyons and Sterling. "Bottom" lands average from one to two miles in width and comprise about 15 per cent. of the area. Timber belts along the streams average from 50 feet to one-third of a mile wide and contain cottonwood, elm, hackberry and oak.

The principal stream is the Arkansas river which flows across the southwest corner. Cow creek, which drains the western and central parts, is an important tributary. The Little Arkansas has its source in the northeastern part of this county and flows south and southeast into McPherson county.

Rice is one of the best agricultural counties in the state, the annual farm production running between four and five millions of dollars in value. In 1910 the corn raised in this county was worth $1,500,000; wheat, $500,000; live stock sold for slaughter, $1,250,000; poultry and eggs, $124,000, and dairy products, $114,000. The crops for the year before were better in many respects, the corn alone bringing nearly $3,000,000, and the wheat and oats together netting considerable over a million.

The population in 1910 was 15,106, and the assessed valuation of property in that year was $34,000,000, which makes the wealth per capita about $2,240, or about $700 above the average per capita wealth of the state.

County Courthouse

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