Aerial photographs Stafford, Kansas
Date: 1888
These two photographs represent different aerial views of Stafford, Kansas from 1888.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Macksville, Kansas
Date: Between 1960s and 1970s
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Sant Fe Railway Company depot in Macksville, Kansas. The one-story wooden structure with batten siding was built between 1886 and 1907 and measured 24 feet by 66 feet. The depot no longer stands.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Macksville, Kansas
Date: Between 1907 and 1917
This photograph shows a group of men standing in front of the Atchison, Topeka and Sant Fe Railway Company depot in Macksville, Kansas. The man standing in the middle has been identified as Charley Rathburn while the other two men are unidentified.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Macksville, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: May 9, 1931
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Macksville, Kansas. Barrels and a cart are also visible. Built between 1886 and 1907, the depot measured 24' x 66'. The one-story wooden structure with batten siding is no longer standing.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Stafford, Kansas
Date: Between 1950 and 1960
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot at Stafford, Kansas. The one-story "county seat" style depot built in 1911 features a gabled roof with a operator's bay and a enclosed freight room. At the pitch of the roof is the Santa Fe emblems which are commonly associated with a county seat depot. Plans to demolish the structure were put forward in 2016.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, St. John, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: June 1913
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in St. John, Kansas. The one-story "county seat" style depot built in 1913 features a gabled roof with a operators' bay and freight room with a flat roof.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, St. John Kansas
Creator: Kelley, Frank O.
Date: Between 1973 and 1975
These two photographs show the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in St. John, Kansas. The one-story "county seat" style depot built in 1913 features a gabled roof with an operators' bay and freight room with a flat roof. At the top of the operators' bay is a Santa Fe emblem which is commonly associated with a county seat depot.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, St. John, Kansas
Date: Between 1913 and 1919
This photo postcard shows a man standing in front of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in St. John, Kansas. The one-story "county seat" style depot built in 1913 features a gabled roof with an operators' bay and a freight room with a flat roof.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe freight house, Stafford, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: May 9, 1931
This photograph shows a Santa Fe Railway freight house in Stafford, Kansas. Built in 1886, the structure measured 24' x 62'.

Ballot box fragment
Date: 1882
Shallow rectangular pine ballot box with irregular sides and no lid. Portion of a ballot box used at the Stafford County seat election on Apr 5th, 1882. Before the polls closed, a tornado struck the building in which the election was held. The box was carried a half mile by the storm, and the ballots it contained were never found. Stafford was defeated by St. John in a follow-up election for the Stafford County seat. A white paper label adhered to the box's underside relates the story.

Campbell residence, Macksville, Kansas
Date: Between 1910 and 1919
This photograph shows the Campbell residence in Macksville, Kansas. In the background windmills and water tanks are visible.

Charley Rathburn
Date: Between 1908 and 1910
This photograph shows Charley Rathburn, at the age of 17 or 18, as a working cowboy on the Stanton County Ranch.

Council of National Defense Woman's Committee correspondence
Date: 1918
This collection consists of correspondence between individuals and committee members to the state chair of the Woman's Committee of the Kansas Council of National Defense. The Council of National Defense was established at the federal level in 1916 as an emergency agency under the Army Appropriation Act and abolished in 1921. It was created in reaction to World War I to coordinate resources and industries for national defense and improve civilian morale. The Woman's Committee of the Kansas Council of National Defense performed the same functions at the state and local levels, coordinating women's activities for national defense. The materials are organized alphabetically by county. The digitization of this collection was paid for through the Margot R. Swovelan Endowment Fund.

Counties : Stafford
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883 : St. John)
Date: 1879
Included here are several letters to Kansas Governor St. John that discuss topics such as county appointments. One letter acknowledges the receipt of commission census taker for Stafford county on May 2, 1879. These letters also include a request to Kansas Governor St. John to delay the appointments of certain Stafford county officers due to a movement on foot in Stafford county to defeat the expressed will of the citizens in that county.

Counties : Stafford
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883 : St. John)
Date: 1879
A letter from J. C. Towsley thanking Kansas Governor for the appointment as County Commissioner of Stafford. The following letters are memorandums that pertain to the establishment of Stafford County and address several acts that include discussions of boundary lines.

Counties, Stafford: Letters, petitions, etc., relating to organization
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1877-1879: Anthony)
Date: October 19 - 25, 1878
A letter on November 25, 1878, from A. S. Hoisington, informs Governor Anthony a meeting is arranged with A. A. Hurd, attorney, and West and Davis, to attend to the organization of Safford County. A letter on October 19, 1878, from Jesse Vickers, encloses a petition signed by residents to have Stafford County organized.

Counties : Stafford, petition
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883 : St. John)
Date: 1879
A petition on January 23, 1879, from residents of Stafford County, Kansas request that Governor St. John organize their county. Accompanying the petition is a letter from the Notary Public of Reno County stating that the following people, S. R. Estle, E. R. Crawford, C. M. Johnson, J. H. Adams, and G. W. Warren swear an oath that the signatures on the petition are genuine and authentic. A separate petition asks the Governor to appoint Charles Johnson as Census taker for Stafford County.

Counties : Stafford, petition
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883 : St. John)
Date: 1879
A petition from residents of Stafford County requesting the town of Stafford be designated as Temporary County Seat. The petitioners explain the town of Stafford is the only place in the county with suitable buildings and facilities. In the late 19th century the location of County Seat was important to residents in towns of Kansas. Supporters of numerous locations within the counties of Kansas believed if their town was selected as County Seat, the success of the town would be guaranteed. The establishment of County Seat meant a courthouse would be built as well as bridges, roads, and schools. The competition of the location of County Seat among towns often resulted in bribery, fraud, and even violence.

Counties : Stafford, petition
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883 : St. John)
Date: 1879
A petition from residents of Stafford County request Kansas Governor St. John designate and declare the town of Camden as Temporary County Seat as the town is the nearest available location to the geographical center. In the late 19th century the location of County Seat was important to residents in towns of Kansas. Supporters of numerous locations within the counties of Kansas believed if their town was selected as County Seat, the success of the town would be guaranteed. The establishment of County Seat meant a courthouse would be built as well as bridges, roads, and schools. The competition of the location of County Seat among towns often resulted in bribery, fraud, and even violence.

County Affairs, Stafford County
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1885-1889 : Martin)
Date: 1885-1889
These two letters, dated December 28, 1886 and June 4, 1887, are from residents of Stafford County, Kansas regarding county affairs to Kansas Governor John Martin. A. M. Gloyd wrote discussing the elected probate judge of the county as a deserter of the Union army. R. M. Blair wrote with questions about the county seat. Stafford County was organized on July 2, 1879 and named for Captain Lewis Stafford, a Civil War soldier in the First Kansas Regiment.

County Treasurers Charging for Tax Information
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: 1915
This file includes a letter from Robert Garvin, County Attorney in St. John, Kansas; as well as a letter from Stafford, Kansas. Primary topics included in the correspondence focuses around County Treasurers and tax bills for citizens. This is part of a bigger collection of Governor Arthur Capper correspondence.

Dollie Boland to Governor Arthur Capper
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: October 22, 1918
In this letter, Dollie Boland of Stafford, Kansas, asks Kansas Governor Arthur Capper to find out why the U.S. Army will not let family members visit their loved ones at the hospital on Camp Funston. Boland wrote her letter to Governor Capper while her brother was being cared for at the Camp Funston hospital during the influenza outbreak of 1918.

Eighth biennial report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1891-1892
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: 1893
This biennial report from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture contains two parts and the page numbering starts over at the beginning of Part II. The volume contains a section on each county, providing summary information about the history of the county, a description of the landscape, crops, livestock, schools, and churches. A large number of tables with statistics about Kansas residents and crop yields, broken down by county, are also included. Other chapters are devoted to interesting subjects such as apiculture, artificial forests, loco weeds, and chinch bugs.

Eleventh biennial report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1897-98
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: 1899
This biennial report from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture includes information on beef and pork production, farm poultry, Kansas mineral products, livestock, and other agricultural topics. Also covered are county statistics for population, acreages, productions, livestock, assessed valuation of property, and a listing of churches for each county. Proceedings and other activities of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture are included.

Fern C. Sanders, World War I soldier
Date: 1918
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains information on Fern C. Sanders, who died on October 13, 1918 at the base hospital in Ft. Riley, Kansas. A line in his obituary reads, "Under regulations governing the influenza epidemic, the funeral was private, only a few being present."