Records from Clay County

Abstract: The majority of the records from Clay County housed at the Kansas State Archives are on microfilm. They include records from the district and probate courts, the Register of Deeds, and the county clerk's office. The records are concerned with vital statistics, estate administration for individuals who are deceased, deeds and land ownership, and with naturalization of individuals as United States citizens. There are also a few criminal and civil case records, and some records from the Clay County school districts. The records cover over a century of Clay County's history, though the majority focus on the last quarter of the nineteenth and the first quarter of the twentieth centuries.

Administrative History: Founded in 1857 and named for the nineteenth-century Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, Clay County was settled in north-central Kansas by sturdy farmers who were drawn to the area's fertile soil, picturesque Republican River Valley, and numerous creeks and streams. Agriculture remains a primary enterprise in the county to this day, beside numerous industries and a thriving retail sector.

The county seat is Clay Center. Townships in Clay County include Athelstane, Blaine, Bloom, Chapman, Clay Center, Exeter, Five Creeks, Garfield, Gill, Goshen, Grant, Hayes, Highland, Mulberry, Oakland, Republican, Sherman, and Union Township.

[Clay County. "Welcome to Clay County. We've Got a Place for You." http://www.cckansas.org/ (accessed 1 June 2009).]

[Kansas State Historical Society. "Kansas Counties – Clay County, Kansas." http://www.kshs.org/genealogists/places/counties.php?county=CY (accessed 1 June 2009).]