Sumner County was organized on February 7, 1871, by John J. Albert and John S. McMahon. Named for Senator Charles
 Sumner of Massachusetts, it contains the cities of Conway Springs, Belle Plaine, Caldwell, Argonia, Mulvane (part),
 Mayfield, Oxford, Milan, Hunnewell, South Haven, Geuda Springs (part), and Wellington.

 The Belle Plaine Methodist Church, organized in 1871, was the first church in the county. The first county fairs were held
 near Wellington, the dates are uncertain. The present fair is held in Caldwell. The first school district was organized in Oxford
 in 1872.

 Interesting public figures from the county include Susanna Madora Salter who on April 4, 1887, was elected mayor of
 Argonia, the first woman mayor in the United States. Joe Maddy, a Wellington musician, founded the Interlochen Musical
 Camp. Fred Stone (1893-1959), who at one time lived in Wellington, was a well-known vaudevillian, actor, and movie
 personality, who was famous for his portrayal of the Scarecrow in the ”Wizard of Oz" on the stage. John Donovan Strong
 developed the 200-inch Mount Palomar telescope. May Williams Ward, one of Kansas' best known poets and winner of the
 Poetry Society of America Award in 1937, was from Wellington.

 Local tales relating to the Chisholm Trail and its hardships, cowboys, and adventures include a story, that may also have some
 factual basis. When Wellington was attempting to procure some of the cattle drover business away from Sumner City, some
 men from Wellington plowed a furrow from a point on the trail, bypassed Sumner City, and proceeded into Wellington. From
 then on, when herdsmen asked directions they were told to follow the trail.