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Homesteading in Rush County

Prentice, Noble Lovely. "History of Kansas". Winfield, KS: E. P. Greer, 1899.

Rush County is named after Alexander Rush, who was a Captain of Company H, Second Colored Infantry. He was later killed on April 3, 1864, at Jenkins’ Ferry, Ark. On March 20, 1873, Rush County came into existence. The settlers who moved into Rush County had Czech, Volga German, German Russian, Swedish, Austrian, Canadian, English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestries. William Basham was the first settler to live within this territory in 1870. F.E. Garner built the first framed house within this territory soon after. From 1870 to 1880 the population of Rush County grew rapidly. In 1880, there were 5,490 residents of Rush County, a great deal more than that of the 1870 territory population. As the population grew within Rush County, many settlements arose to accommodate the different needs of the people.

                                
Captain Alexander Rush                                                                                                            Early Sod House 

Contact Us:

Rush County Historical Society
c/o Post Rock Museum
202 W. 1st
LaCrosse, KS 67548
(785) 222-2719

Sources

William G. Cutler’s History of the State of Kansas first published in 1883 by A.T.
Andreas, Chicago, IL.

Information from Judith Reynolds

Algrim, Gene, et al. Rush County Kansas...125 Years in Story & Pictures. LaCrosse: The Rush County News and Creative Printing, 2001.