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Homesteading in Edwards County
Wendell
Founded in 1883 by the Millette family, Wendell was platted on June 20, 1885. The Wendell Town Company encouraged people to come to Wendell by offering 25 foot lots. The town grew rapidly, and its citizens had high hopes of it becoming the county seat. The county's boundaries extended to the south and east of the present day boundaries, so Wendell would have been centrally located.
A post office and a store were opened by Fred Millette, and other businesses soon followed.
There was a petition filed in 1885 to change the county seat from Kinsley to Wendell. There was some stuffing of the ballot boxes in favor of Kinsley, and that town was declared the winner. Because Wendell lost the county seat, the railroad broke its promise to build tracks through Wendell and routed them through Greensburg instead. Even though Wendell had some businesses and two churches and was the headquarters for the Cannonball Stage Line, the citizens gradually moved away and Wendell ceased to exist by the early 1900's.
The ethnicity of its settlers is unknown.
Sources
Richardson, Myrtle H. "Oft' Told Tales: A History of Edwards County, Kansas, to 1900". Lewis, KS: The Lewis Press, 1976.