Brief
History from Kansas State Historical
Society:
Jewell County was
organized on July 14, 1870, by William
Harshberger and John Furrows. Cheyenne
Indian raids in 1866
and 1867 forced these men and others
to leave the county. The last Indian raid
in the county occurred in 1870. On May 13,
1870, the early settlers built a
fort of sod and lived there until June
1870 protected by the "Buffalo Militia."
The county was
named for Lieutenant Colonel Lewis
R. Jewell, who died during the Civil War.
It contains the cities of Jewell, Burr
Oak,
Mankato, Esbon, Formoso, Webber, and
Randall.
In 1910 land speculation drove
the population up to over 18,000 persons,
the largest in the county's history. The
first church
was the Evangelical United Brethren of
Jewell, 1871, and the first county fair was
not held until August 1979, at Mankato.
The first school was formed east of
Jewell City in 1871 |
