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Kansas Counties
 Click Image to Enlarge Kansas CountiesKansas has 105 counties, the sixth-highest total of any state. No Kansas county has two words in its name. Wyandotte County and the city of Kansas City operate as a unified government, and Greeley County and the city of Tribune are in the process of converting to a similar system. |
Morris County, KansasMorris County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
Etymology - Origin of County NameOriginally named for Henry A. Wise, who was Governor of Virginia during the John Brown seizure of Harper's Ferry. The execution of that "grand old man," at Charlestown, December 2, 1859, was one of the last acts of Wise's administration. Name was changed to Morris in February, 1859, in honor of Thomas Morris, a United States Senator from Ohio in 1832, who distinguished himself as an opponent of slavery. He died in 1844. Demographics:County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts County HistoryMorris County, one of the oldest and most historic in the state, is located in the northeastern section, the 5th west from the Missouri line and the 4th south from Nebraska. It is bounded on the north by Geary and Wabaunsee counties; on the east by Wabaunsee and Lyon; on the south by Chase and Marion, and on the west by Marion and Dickinson. Prior to 1858 this county was a municipal township of the district composed of Wise, Breckenridge and Madison counties. In that year it was organized as Wise county and the following officers were elected: Probate judge, H. J. Espy; surveyor, N. S. Brazleton; supervisors, T. S. Huffaker, Harvey Munkers and Lewis Baum. The first full ticket of county officials was elected in Nov., 1861. In 1859 the sentiment of the state having changed from what it was in 1855 when the county was named Wise in honor of a southern celebrity, the name was changed to Morris in honor of Thomas Morris, United States senator from Ohio. The county seat contest did not come up until 1871, as prior to that time Council Grove had no rival. When Parkerville became an incorporated town it entered the lists for county seat, and an election was called to settle the matter. All sorts of trickery was resorted to by both sides. Men were brought into the county for voting purposes by the hundreds. The population of the county at that time was 2,225. The number of votes cast was 1,312, of which 899 were for Council Grove and 413 for Parkerville. GeographyThe general surface is an undulating prairie, practically all of which is tillable. The bottom lands along the streams average one mile in width and comprise 15 per cent. of the total area. The area of native timber is above the average for the state. All the varieties of wood common to Kansas soil grow along the stream in belts a quarter of a mile in width, and a number of artificial plantings have been made. The Neosho river rises in the western part of the county and flows southeast into Lyon county. It has several tributaries. Clark's creek flows north through the western portion. Limestone underlies the entire county and is extensively quarried and shipped at Council Grove and Parkerville. Neighboring Counties:
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County Resource Guide
The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history. Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."  |
