The Warren Jennings family came to the southern part of the county
in 1873 from Iowa and homesteaded about a mile northeast of the
present site of Jennings. They started the Slab City trading post,
and a post office was established within the store on October
22, 1874. The trading post was used mainly by buffalo hunters,
settlers, and even a few friendly Indians.
In 1879, the O. E. Munson family homesteaded the land on which
the town of Jennings was founded. By 1888, the Rock Island Railroad
came across the southeast corner of the county, and the town site
was laid out. It was named for Warren Jennings. Houses were moved
to Jennings from Allison, and citizens of Slab City also moved
to Jennings. The railroad laid tracks through the town on May
16, 1888.
In April 1893, a group of settlers of Czech heritage came to
the Big Timber area in Decatur County. Big Timber is a tributary
of the Prairie Dog Creek.
Sources
Decatur County Historical Book
Committee. "Decatur County Kansas". Lubbock, TX: Specialty
Publishing Company, 1983.
|
