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Towns & Places

Extinct Towns

Museums & Historic Sites

Morris County Pioneers

Border Troubles in Morris County

Morris County map, 1899.

In 1850, the Methodist Episcopal Church, entered into a contract with the government to establish a school for the education of the Kanza Indians. The same year, the Board of Missions also erected a stone mission at Council Grove. Besides the mission school several other buildings were also constructed in 1850, and among them a depot for the storage of government supplies and other military material. The mail company also put up several buildings, and all the inhabitants in Morris County, were those either employed by the government or working for companies who had contracts with the government, numbering about 25 in all.

At that time the Kanza Indians on the reservation numbered about 1,700 where relations with the Indians remained peaceful until 1854, when Kansas became an official territory. Seth M. Hays built the first house in Morris County, which was a log store on the west bank of the Neosho River on the Santa Fe Trail.

The Kaw Mission still stands in Council Grove. The Kansas State Historic

 Site is a museum today.

In 1854, Kansas became a Territory by the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Andrew Horatio Reeder was appointed as the first governor of the new territory and soon thereafter, with a full corps of staff officers, arrived at Council Grove, which he contemplated making the capital. In this he failed; however, owing to the fact that the land required for that purpose could not be obtained from the Indians.

Up to this time no attempts at settlement had been made in anywhere else in the county until a man named J.C. Munkers took a claim upon what became known as Munkers' Creek in 1854.

One of the first official acts of Governor Reeder was to order an election for members of the Territorial Legislature. During this time excitement was running high in the region as new settlers sought control over the territory as a Free State or a Pro-Slavery State. Two men, one from each party, were submitted for the legislature.  

A.I. Baker was the Free-State candidate and Mobillon McGee, the pro-slavery candidate. The election was held on March 30, 1855 and Baker fairly won. However, McGee, on some trumped-up cause, contested the seat with him, and as the first legislature was largely comprised of pro-slavery advocates, Baker was denied the seat and replaced with McGee. One of the first duties of the legislature, since referred to as the “Bogus Legislature” was to divide a large portion of the territory into counties. What would later become Morris County was first named Wise County, for Henry A. Wise, who would later become the Governor of Virginia during the John Brown seizure of Harper's Ferry.  The county was first combined with other adjacent counties for its management, judicial and revenue purposes.

However, the county was separated from the others in 1858, and separate officers and officials were put in place and the county seat was designated as Council Grove. In the meantime, the Free-Staters had taken control of the territory and in February, 1859, the county’s name was changed from Wise to Morris in honor of Thomas Morris, a United States Senator from Ohio in 1832, who distinguished himself as an opponent of slavery. The population in 1859 was about 600 people.

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