Claflin
People began settling in the area south
of the present site of Claflin in 1872. Many of these settlers
were from the northern states, Movaria and Germany. By 1886, the
Kansas and Colorado Railroad (later became the Missouri Pacific)
had laid tracks through the area and the depot built south of
the tracks was named Giles City for the owner of the land next
to it. The main line was completed on February 21, 1887.
The Claflin Town Company was formed
in 1887 with Stelle Giles as president. They wanted to buy the
land south of the tracks, but A. Giles would not sell it, so the
group bought 160 acres north of the tracks and changed the name
to Claflin in March 1887. The name came from the maiden name of
the wife of Judge O. P. Hamilton, one of the members of the town
company.
George Norris built the first building
in the new town; he put in a furniture and hardware store. A dry
goods and grocery store was opened by Joe Cannon.
Father Warren Emmerich established
a school in 1888, which was known as the "new German school"
because many of the classes were conducted in German.
The first church in Claflin was the
Christian Church, dedicated in March 1892, followed by the Methodist
Church in June 1893. The Lutherans were the earliest religious
organization in the area, but their church was not built until
1897.
Its settlers were most likely of German
ancestry.
Sources
Harrington, Marge, Compiler. Barton County:
Golden Heartland of Kansas. Great Bend: Great Bend Tribune,
1996.
Huff, Wayne. Centennial History of Claflin,
Kansas. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 1987.
