LYON CO. KS
Formed 1857 from Madison; named Breckenridge in 1860
 

CENSUS RECORDS

1870 Lyon Co. KS Census
Emporia, Ward 3
Pg.223, #87-83, DUNCAN, John W. 36 OH plasterer $500-$750
                  Julia A. 30 OH keeping house
                  Luella J. (f) 9, Amanda 6 OH
                  Lavina E. 4, Alvie? (Alice?) (f) 1 OH

1880 Lyon Co. KS Census from Soundex (looking for Isaac Wilbur Duncan b.1872-73 OH)
City of Emporia, Constitution Street, House #152
Vol.11, ED 102, Sheet 24, Line 19
DUNKIN, Peter 36 TN (BLACK male)
            Lizzie 26 KY wife
            Sarah 9 TN dau.
            Robert 4 IN son
            Walter J. 3/12 KS son
 

HISTORIES before 1923

1899 "Portrait and biographical record of Leavenworth, Douglas and Franklin Counties, Kansas : containing portraits, biographies and genealogies of well known citizens of the past and present; together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States" pub. by Chapman Bros. (FHL film 1,000,036 item 1)
      Pgs.586-587: JOHN G. McCLANAHAN, one of the earliest of the Douglas County pioneers, was born in Lexington, Ky., June 18, 1826, a son of William S. and Elizabeth T. (Triplett) McClanahan, of whose eight children, one son and three daughters, Amelia, Mary and Elizabeth, survive. His father, who was born in Kentucky about 1800, went to West Virginia in early manhood and engaged in farming in conjunction with his work as a teacher in the public schools. After some years he went to Lexington, Ky., in order that his wife, who was not strong, might have the benefit of medical attendance. After her recovery he returned to West Virginia, where he remained until 1833. He then removed to Boone County, Mo., and engaged in farming and teaching. In 1848 he established his home in Linn County, the same state, where he resided until his death. He gave up teaching about 1850 and was elected county surveyor, which office he filled for six years. Soon after resigning from that position he was elected clerk of the county court, and served in that capacity for fourteen years. He was a prominent member of the Mission Baptist Church. In politics he was first an ardent supporter of the Whig party and later a stanch Republican. In character he was upright, a man respected wherever known.
            Under his father's private tutorship our subject acquired an excellent education. From eighteen to twenty-one years of age he worked in a sawmill. Afterward he learned the carpenter's trade. In 1850 he married Miss Mary A. Zinn, a native of Illinois, and daughter of George W. Zinn, who for some years had been a prominent farmer near Danville, that state, but in 1839 (sic) removed to Linn County, Mo. After Mr. McClanahan's marriage he settled upon a farm which he purchased in Linn County, and there he followed farming and carpentering. In the fall of 1854 he came to Kansas in company with his father-in-law, arriving in Douglas County September 1(?). He took up land four miles west of Lecompton, where he still resides. He was the first settler in this part of Douglas County. Upon his property he first built a hut, and in the latter part of September returned to Missouri for his family. November of the same year found them domiciled in their new home, and they have since continued to reside upon the same farm.
            During the border warfare days Mr. McClanahan experienced all the excitement caused by the slavery agitation. In 1856 he was a member of the grand jury and at that time carried his life in his hand. During the Civil war he was a corporal in the militia and was called out to cut off General Price in his Kansas raid. He is a friend of education and has served on the school board for twenty-six years. In politics he is a Republican, and in religion a member of the Mission Baptist Church. He is one of the oldest living pioneers of Douglas County, and has witnessed the gradual development of this county from early days. Not only did he pass through all the dangers and trials of antebellum days, but he also has witnessed the subsequent growth of this section of the state, and has gained for himself a place among the most highly esteemed citizens of the county. In this esteem his wife also shares. Both recall the days when Douglas County was sparsely populated and of little importance in the commercial life of the state, and they have witnessed its prosperity with pride and have contributed not a little to its advancement. They became the parents of ten children, seven of whom survive, viz.: Martha A., wife of William A. Duncan, of Lyon County, Kans.; William S., who is engaged in farming in Douglas County and also operates a threshing machine; Sarah E., widow of Hiram Gibbons, of this county; John H. and Franklin A., who are farmers of this county; Mary Emma, wife of Thomas Hoog, of Shawnee County; and Nancy E., who married John Austin, proprietor of a cheese factory in Douglas County.
 

END

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