Harvey County, Kansas
was organized by an act of Legislature, February 29, 1872,
and named Harvey, in honor of James M. Harvey, then Governor of Kansas.
Maps & Township History
Townships of Harvey County, Kansas
*Alta * Emma * Walton * Garden* Highland *
* Burrton * Halstead * Macon * Newton*
* Pleasant * Lake * Lakin * Sedgwick * Darlington * Richland
The early settlement of Harvey County by townships, as given by Judge R. W. P. Muse, in his history of Harvey County, is to the effect that * Lakin Township was settled early in June 1869, by Messrs. Kimball and Howard, who located on Section 7;* Macon Township, at the mouth of the three Emma creeks in the summer of 1869, by Geo. F. Perry, Wm. Cleveland, M. Alexander and Seth Goodley, who established a cattle ranche(sic);* Richland Township was inhabited by Messrs. Nieman, Lawrence and Wilcox until June 1870,when A. G. Richardson, present County Commissioner, came and purchased the claims of Lawrence and Wilcox, and made a permanent location. Other settlers in the township were C. S. Fink, July 3, 1870; R. W. Denny September 18, 1870, and Joel and Jesse Parker, H. W. Bailey, B. P. Parks, S. Saylor, T. Ezra, R. Smith in October, 1870;* Darlington Township -- Edward Doty, Thomas Winn, July 1870; C. E. Berry, August 1870; E. Marks, O. B. Hildreth, Wm. Geary and I. Stockwell on Section 4, in October, 1870; they were followed by O. B. Gingress and Jas. Allen and others in the fall of the same year; * Garden and Alta Township were first settled by a French colony of ten persons, who located in Alta Township on Turkey Creek, in 1869-70. In the fall of 1870 the settlement was augmented by Palmer and Daniel Heath and others. On the Little Arkansas River in Garden Township, an Irish settlement was formed early in 1870, and increased September 12, 1870 by F. P. and A. E. Munch; * Newton Township -- in February, 1871, A. W. Baker, Miles Davids and Joshua Perkins;* Highland Township -- in March, 1871, by John Hengst, C. W. Patterson, J. V. Sharp, H. Beery and F. Livingston, followed in April by J. S. and F. W. H. Hackney, J. C. W. E. and J. M. Johnston, R. T. Elwood, J. C. Caveny, W. Davis and others; * Lake Township -- in March 1871, by Jas. McMurray, Jas. Patterson, John Gorgas and others;* Burrton Township -- by John W. Blades and others in April, 1871; Emma Township -- in April, 1871, by Wm. and Chas. Bean, E. C. Munger, G. Webster and others; * Walton Township -- in March 1871 by Theodore Kline and family; * Halstead Township -- in September, 1870, by John N. Corgan, who had sold his claim where Sedgwick City now stands, and located near present town of Halstead. He was followed in October by G. L. Cooper, J. Schoonover, A. Olson, Allen Miller, L. D. and A. Brewer; * Pleasant Township -- in January, 1871, by John Harlan, J. and P. Ray, L. B. Owen, D. E. Sheldon; in February, H. D. and C. Kettle, D. Denny, S. Chamberlain, S. A. Powell.
The county was divided into municipal townships, each being the size of a congressional township, and were named as follows:
Newton Township, from the city of Newton, the county seat;
Darlington Township, in honor of its early settlers, who came from Darlington, La Fayette Co, Wis.;
Sedgwick Township, after the town of Sedgwick;
Lakin Township in honor of D. L. Lakin, then Land Commissioner of the A. T. & S. Fe R. R.;
Lake Township, from the beautiful lakes it contains;
Burton Township, was changed from Valley, in honor of the town of Burton;
Halstead Township, in honor of the city of Halstead;
Emma Township, after the three creeks of the same name, so called in memory of a "beautiful young lady" who died and was buried on the bank of one of the streams;
Alta Township, in memory of a deceased daughter of Judge R. W. P. Muse;
Macon Township, after a county of that name in Illinois;
Walton Township, in honor of one of the stockholders of the A. T. & S. Fe R. R.; Garden, Richland, Highland and Pleasant townships, so named from their location and quality of soil.
The Following County Maps of Kansas taken from William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas
first published in 1883 by A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL.
Others Maps Located Below.....Years 1878 - 1887 - 1895 1899
Early Map - Land that was to become Harvey County, KS
1878
Year - 1895
Year - 1899
Year 1887
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