Prentice, Noble Lovely. "History of Kansas". Winfield,
KS: E. P. Greer, 1899.
The first settler, a man named Col. Griffin, lived
on a ranch which was located about 1 mile from the present city
of Sun City. He came to the area in the winter of 1871-72. A man
named E. H. Mosley set up a small trading post in the spring of
1872 in Kiowa. Two other men named Lockwood and Leonard who came
to Kiowa with Mr. Mosley began farming in the area. The first
store was opened in Kiowa in the spring of 1873 by Gus Hegwer.
In December 1872, Derrick Updegraff settled in Medicine
Lodge and was soon followed by several other gentlemen in the
spring.
The summer of 1873 saw rapid settlement in the county,
and because there were hostile Indians still in the area, stockades
were built at Medicine Lodge and Sun City. The last Indian scare
was in 1878; a band of Indians led by Little Wolf came through
the area on their way north from Oklahoma.
The county was organized on July 7, 1873, despite
the fact that there were less than 100 settlers, far less than
the 600 settlers that were required for county organization. Unsavory
means were used to get 600 signatures.
The county was named for Thomas W. Barber, a member
of the 1st Regiment, Kansas Volunteers, who was shot and killed
by pro-slavery men. Through an error, the name was misspelled
as Barbour and that was the official name from the time the county
was established in 1867 until 1883 when it was corrected by an
act of the legislature.
Barber County was home to Hebron (New Jerusalem)
which was a Jewish colony. Russians, Poles, Rumanians and Hungarians
were part of this colony. A Christian colony founded the community
of Sharon.
Sources
Barber County History Committee.
"The Chosen Land: A History of Barber County, Kansas."
Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Company, 1980.
