Established on March 20, 1873, Seward County went through several boundary changes. It was expanded on February 22, 1883, to include Kansas (now Morton), Stevens and part of Meade Counties. On March 13, 1885, Meade County was re-established, then on February 20, 1886, Morton and Stevens Counties were re-established. The name of the county was in honor of William H. Seward, a senator from New York and a leader of the anti-slavery wing of the Whig Party.
Many of the early settlers arrived in Seward County after traveling from their former homes in the eastern and midwestern states. Some were of Irish, German and English descents.
Like a number of other Kansas counties, there was a county seat war. The now defunct towns of Fargo Springs and Springfield were involved in a bitter fight which along with the county seat war in neighboring Stevens County saw a number of deaths, including the Sheriffs of both Seward and Stevens Counties.
Sources
Seward County Historical Society, Inc. "Seward County Kansas". Liberal, KS:K.C. Printers, 1979.
Fitzgerald, Daniel. "Ghost Towns of Kansas". Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1988.