Godfrey County, Kansas [defunct]

[genealogynut]

Gather around students, for another history lesson------

This was taken from the Kansas State Historical Society.

Date Godfrey County, Kansas was established- -August 30, 1855
Date Defunct- June 03, 1861

Boundaries-  Beginning at the southeast corner of Greenwood county, thence south to the southern boundary of the territory, thence west 24 miles, thence north to the southwest corner of Greenwood; thence east 24 miles to the place of beginning.

Origin of Name - Possibly named for Bill Godfrey, a trader among the Osages in the Neosho Valley during the early to mid- 1850's or Gabriel Godfrey,a subagent to the Pottawatomie tribe in the 1820's.  In some sources, the county name is spelled "Godfroy," but this is apparently a misprint.

History-- One of the original 33 counties created by the first territorial legislature, Godfrey County was attached to Allen County for civil and military purposes and was never organized.  In 1861, the name was changed to Seward County; later it became Howard County, and is today mostly Elk and Chautauqua counties.

End of lesson.