I have many roots in Franklin County. Carl August Jacob, my maternal great-great-grandfather, is listed as one of the first families of Frainlin County .

Franklin County as an organization begins in 1855. When by an act, the territorial legislature of Kansas originally organized the thirty-three counties. Franklin county being the seventh in number, following after Douglas which was the sixth, named in the law. The boundaries began at the south-east corner of Douglas county and enclosed twenty-four miles square, an area of 576 square miles, containing 368,640 acres.

The county was named after Benjamin Franklin, a great American, and is rich in Indian lore, which dates back centuries before Kansas became a territory. The area was included in a treaty ceding land to the Great and Little Osage Indians in 1808, and ceded back to the federal government in 1825. After 1825 and prior to 1867, treaties with various Indian tribes set off parts of what was later to become Franklin County for their use.

Population - 23,207 (as of 1994) County Area - 576 Square Miles Altitude - 965 Feet above sea level Annual Average Temp - 55 degrees F Annual Average Precip - 37"

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• Main Page
• Resources
• Postcards from the Past

• The Kansas Farmer Mail & Breeze Directory 1922

• KDHE Vital Statistics
• Cutler's History of Kansas
• Franklin County Indexes on line
• Ottawa Herald On line
• Index of Ottawa Herald Obituaries
• Map of Ottawa
• Ottawa High School
• Ottawa High School History

• GENEALOGICAL EVENTS