Brief History from
Kansas State Historical Society:
Miami County was
originally named Lykins County when
created as one of the original 33 by the
Territorial Legislature in
1855. The county was not organized
until April 2, 1857. In 1861 the name was
changed to Miami. It was organized by S.
H.
Houser; Daniel Goodrich; C. A.
Foster; John Childers; C. H. Crane; S. L.
Adair; T. J. Hodges; and D. L. Perry, and
contains
the cities of Louisburg, Fontana,
Osawatomie, Paola and Spring Hill (part).
Isaac McCoy's proposal
for an Indian state and the removal of the
Indians in 1830 enabled white missionaries
to settle in the
area. John Brown's free-state
headquarters was located in the area, and
the Battle of Osawatomie, August 30, 1856,
following
a series of raids by both free
staters and Missouri supported pro slavery
forces, capped the disturbances in the
area. Brown's
son Frederick and four other free
staters were killed. Osawatomie was also
the "birthplace" of the Republican party
in the state
as it was organized at the
Osawatomie convention on May 18, 1859. In
1910 President Theodore Roosevelt
dedicated the John
Brown Memorial Park at Osawatomie.
The first church was
the Osawatomie Congregational organized in
1856, and the first building was
constructed in 1858. The
first school district, Number 1, was
formed at New Lancaster, Miami Township,
in 1858. Although fairs had been held
since
the 1890s, there was no official
county fair until 1945.
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