Rawlins County was named for John A.
Rawlins, an adjutant for Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War
and who later became the Secretary of War in the Grant administration.
The first homesteader was August C. Blume in 1875, and during
the years of 1880 & 1881, the area was settled by a good number
of people. In May 1881, Rawlins Township was organized as Rawlins
County and Governor John P. St. John named Atwood the temporary
county seat.
Immigrants to Rawlins County came from
Ireland, England, the Scandinavian countries and the Middle European
countries. However, each group of immigrants did not associate
with the others. The area surrounding the Enne Post Office was
settled by the Swedes; the English settled in Grant Township (south
central part of county) in a little community they called Ilion;
Herndon was settled by the Hungarians/Austrians; and Ludell was
settled by the Germans. The Irish and Danish settled in south
central Rawlins County, and the Czechs settled north and west
of Atwood.
Sources
Hayden, Ruth Kelley. "The
Time That Was: The Courageous Acts and Accounts of Rawlins County,
Kansas, 1875-1915". H.F.Davis Memorial Library, Colby Community
College, Colby, KS, 1973.
"History of Rawlins County,
Kansas". Rawlins County Genealogical Society, 1988.
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