RESEARCH
We will do look-ups and limited research in the materials listed below for $10 per hour with a one-hour minimum. Most of the research we can do here doesn't go over an hour and we won't go over without instructions. Photocopies are 25 cents each, plus postage. Scanned e-mail attachments are 50 cents each. There is no charge for an unsuccessful search.
Among resources at the museum are several county history books, some out of print, some available for sale at the Museum. (Payment for available books may be made by check or money order, or via PayPal using our e-mail address, schgs1976@gmail.com):
Gray Studio Glass Negatives: About 7,000 of the photos are available for download from the website on our home page. Museum staff will scan those that are not available for $3.00 per negative and put them on a flashdrive provided by the patron. Staff will not scan photos that are available on the website.
High quality prints may be ordered from any Gray Studio negative, 4x5s are $12.00 each, and 5x7s are $20.00 each. Payment is required in advance. It takes us some time to get these to the photographer in Hutchinson and back.
Etched in Stone: Tombstone Inscriptions of Stafford County, Kansas, by Kim Sallee, 1990.
Stafford County History 1870-1990 (We have copies to sell at $35, free shipping).
A History of Stafford County, by Frank A. Steele, 2nd edition,1982 (we have 2 copies of the 1st edition, mimeographed at Stafford High School,1968, $20 ea., free shipping).
No Cyclone Shall Destroy: The Story of St. John, Kansas, by Clelland Cole and Helen Reuber, 1981.
Macksville, Kansas Community History 1886-1986.
Family Heritage Album -- Stafford County, Kansas, 1975.
The History of Hudson, Kansas, by Geneva Brim, 1987.
On the Corner of the Square (St. John history), by Helen Malin Reuber, 2001.
Crossroads of Time: Stafford, Kansas, 1885-1985 (we have 1 copy to sell, $35, free shipping).
A Chautauqua Reader: Episodes and Anecdotes of Stafford, Kansas, edited by Melanie Farley, 1983.
Stafford High School History: Alumni Directory 1891-1991 (we have copies for sale with updates through 2021, $10 each).
Re-Echo 1887-1987: St. John, Hudson, Antrim.
Civil War Veterans of Stafford County and Veterans of Stafford County (two scrapbooks which list local veterans from the Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Gulf War).
STAFFORD COUNTY NEWSPAPERS
Thanks to a grant from Golden Belt Community Foundation at Great Bend, Kansas, we have our newspaper collection organized on shelves. Of the approximately 50 newspapers published in Stafford County since 1877, we have 29 of them represented in our collection, including "ghost-town" newspapers: Milwaukee Bee (1882-1883), Bedford Pilot (Oct. and Nov. 1881) and Cassoday Mirage (1887-1889).
We can do obituary look-ups in the newspaper archive for $5 each (this includes research and copy/scan fee), if we have at least a MONTH and YEAR of death. There is no charge for an unsuccessful search. Due to time constraints, we cannot do extensive research in the newspapers but they are available for public use Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (It's a good idea to call ahead.)
Most Stafford County newspapers are available either on microfilm or hard copy at four locations: Stafford County Museum in Stafford; Goodman Library in St. John; Larabee Library in Stafford and Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka. For a listing of these newspapers and where they are located, send self-addressed, stamped envelope to Stafford Co. Museum, 100 N. Main, Stafford, KS 67578.
Other resources available at the Museum:
STAFFORD CO. RURAL SCHOOL RECORDS
On March 9, 2009, the Stafford Co. Register of Deeds turned custody of the rural school records over to the historical society. These records are available for research. Included are annual reports (most beginning in 1904) of the district clerk that, besides financial and other statistics of the school, record the name of every pupil, his birthday, residence and name of parent. There are a few Term Registers maintained by teachers in the various individual schools. We also have ledgers and annual reports from the County Superintendent's office dating back to 1881 as well as a few Souvenir Booklets from some of the schools that list names of teachers and students.
1900 and 1910 Stafford County census on microfilm.
Stafford County cemetery records.
Obituary file of county residents (since 1979, some before).
Four obituary scrapbooks dating from late 1800s until about 1940 indexed and combined in one scrapbook. Also included in the scrapbook: "1880 Mortality Schedule of Stafford County, KS," lists deaths in the county that year.
Published family histories.
Vertical family files and family panels.
High school annuals and school photos from Hudson, Radium, Zenith, Stafford, Macksville, Antrim and St. John schools as far back as 1907.
LEDGER RECORDS
The birth, death and cemetery ledgers (which are not complete), Pensioner's Roll, Tubbs Church Log, Chautauqua Reader, Hit and Miss Scrapbook [E.A. Briles' columns] and historical manuscripts about Stafford County are indexed. [The birth ledgers are indexed only through 1929.] Photocopies from the ledgers are 50 cents ea.
BIRTH RECORDS: City of Stafford (1911-1960); Albano Twp (1913-1915); Cooper Twp (1913-1915); Putnam Twp (1913-1920; Rose Valley/Albano twps and City of St. John (1920-1926).
DEATH RECORDS: City of Stafford, 1936-1946; Albano Twp (1914-15); Rose Valley/Albano twps (1913-1926).
CEMETERY RECORDS: Leesburg (Rose Valley Twp) 1911-14; Pleasant Ridge (Lincoln Twp) 1889-?
Stafford County Marriages 1880-1895 and 1887-1896, compiled by Pauline Garner, 1968.
Tubbs Ministry Log: Stafford Co. marriages, baptisms, funerals and church membership lists, 1901-1926, recorded by Rev. Edwin Henry Halleck Tubbs (1862-1927).
Military Discharge Records as Recorded in the Register of Deeds Office, St. John, Stafford County, Kansas, as of Aug. 1, 1989.
Pensioner's Roll, 1883.
Large collection of genealogy books and periodicals.
Local phone books and farm directories.
WEEKLEY CIVIL WAR & HUMANITIES LIBRARY
The Weekley Library consists of 1000+ books, the majority of which are U.S. history with strong emphasis on the Civil War. The centerpiece of the collection is the almost complete 168-volume set of War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.
STAFFORD COUNTY LAND RECORDS
For information on how to research land records in the Register of Deeds Office, send self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) to Register of Deeds, Stafford Co. Courthouse, 209 N. Broadway, St. John, KS 67576, or call 620-549-3505.
MATERIALS IN PROBATE JUDGE'S OFFICE
STAFFORD COUNTY COURTHOUSE, ST. JOHN, KS
According to letter dated March 24, 1986: "... probate records, marriage license records back to 1879. Marriages 1879-1910 are cross-indexed on rolodex cards. After 1910 marriages must be checked in the index of each marriage record book. Also have old Naturalization books, very old and delicate.
STAFFORD COUNTY OBITUARY INFO
Obituaries from Stafford County historical newspapers, dating back to 1877, are available in hard copy at our museum library. Museum staff can do obit look-ups for $5 per obit, if month and year are provided. There is no charge for an unsuccessful search.
St. John, Hudson and Seward newspapers, back to 1879, are on microfilm at Goodman Library in St. John. There is a card catalog death index for those newspapers.
For information about obtaining obituaries from Stafford city newspapers on microfilm back to 1877, contact Larabee Library, 108 N. Union, Stafford, KS 67578. Phone: 620-234-5762, between 2-5 p.m.
KANSAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
These Stafford County items are available at the Kansas Historical Society:
County Clerk Records
Vital statistics register (births, deaths, marriages), 1885-1894 [AR 7256-7260].
Medical certificate record, 1901-1975 [AR 7260].
County commissioners journals, 1879-1982 [AR 7260].
Probate Court
Journals, 1935-1973 [AR 7261-7278].
City of Hudson, City Clerk
Ordinance record, 1908-1991 [AR 7260].
