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Homesteading in Decatur County
Jennings
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.