Leavenworth County
Historical Society and Museum
Keeping History Alive in Leavenworth County
An Invitation: Connect to Leavenworth History!
Leavenworth County boasts countless historical events, visitors, and residents here since its founding in 1854. Known as the “Pioneer City” of Kansas, it became a launch pad for western expansion in the United States. In this role, Leavenworth welcomed visitors and residents alike, especially in the early days of Bleeding Kansas, the Civil War, and its emergence as a promising manufacturing center. Nationally recognized figures Horace Greeley, Abraham Lincoln, Fred Harvey, Mother Xavier Ross and the Sisters of Charity, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, Charles Henry Langston, and Capt. W.D. Mathews were followed by George Custer, Ulysses S. Grant, Carry A. Nation, and Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Tribe. U.S. Presidents, Ulysses S. Grant, and William F. Taft made appearances in Leavenworth and nationally recognized suffrage advocates, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Army Generals were stationed at Fort Leavenworth: (Eisenhower, Marshall, Bradley, Patton, MacArthur,Sherman, Colin Powell) and gangsters, such as “Bugs” Moran, Tom Pendergast, and “Machine Gun” Kelly paid their debts to society within the U.S. Penitentiary walls. Here in Leavenworth, there is considerable history to be preserved in chronicling individuals and events. The rapid growth of the town from the early settlement days in the steamboat era through the building of railroads, bridges, and manufacturing plants compliment fragments of noteworthy events in history.
These and additional themes can be explored throughout the County of Leavenworth and in extensive holdings at the Leavenworth County Historical Society.
Leavenworth County Kansas First Families Program
The Leavenworth County Historical Society, located in the Pioneer City of Kansas,
is pleased to announce the
First Families of Leavenworth County Kansas program to recognize and honor the residence of early families in
Leavenworth County, Kansas.The program is an ongoing effort to preserve the county’s rich heritage of history surrounding Fort Leavenworth and Leavenworth, the Pioneer City of Kansas, for future generations.
The Leavenworth County Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,with revenue derived from memberships, donations, research, tour fees of our home, the Carroll Mansion Museum, and numerous fundraising activities.
Types of Certificates
Territorial Certificate
Ancestors proven to have resided in Leavenworth County, Kansas on or before statehood,
29 January 1861
Pioneer Certificate
Ancestor proven to have resided in Leavenworth County, Kansas between 29 January 1861 and
31 December 1880
Early Settler Certificate
Ancestor proven to have resided in Leavenworth County, Kansas between 1 January 1881 and
31 December 1900
Application and Fees
• Applicant must be able to prove descent with an official record of some type or some other acceptable
source of proof (i.e.: census records; obituaries; county histories; birth, death or marriage records;
school or church records; newspaper clippings and any other records showing proof.)
• Applicant must show a relationship to his or her pioneer relative and must prove relationship with an
official record of some type (i.e. census records, obituaries. county histories, birth record, etc).
• Applicant does not have to live in Kansas or ever have lived in Kansas.
To apply for a certificate, each applicant will need to complete an application form. This form includes
the certificate application, permission to publish, a line of descendant chart, and a pedigree chart. In
addition, each application will need to submit documentation to substantiate the information included
in the line of descent chart, along with the application fee of $40, as determined by the Historical
Society. Once approved by the LCHS Research Dept, applicant will be issued the appropriate
certificate.
Printable PDF application form.
Photographic Treasures of Historic Leavenworth, Kansas
Following the premier of our traveling exhibit in the summer of 2022, at the Box Gallery in Commerce Bank, Kansas City, Missouri,
it went on display at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas, Lawrence in Spring 2023.Here is an on-line version of the exhibit:
https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/show/leavenworth in cooperation with Spencer Research Library.
Click Here to read our information about the traveling exhibit, and how to become a hosting venue.
Established in 2021, the Greenwood Cemetery Preservation Commission brings together interested groups and individuals with a
goal to preserve one of the oldest pioneer cemeteries in Leavenworth. Through the Society’s efforts, the cemetery was named
to the Kansas and National Registers of Historic Places in 2022. In December 2022, under the direction of the local Jesse
Leavenworth Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the first Wreaths Across America ceremony was
held at the cemetery,
with the placement of wreaths on 15 known veteran headstones.
The cemetery is owned by the City of Leavenworth.
https://www.visitleavenworthks.com/visitors