Forgotten Settler Certificates Available

Many of the early pioneers who have helped make Kansas a great state have been lost in history because no other information existed except in family records. In order to gather information on these pioneers, the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies has a project of issuing a Territorial, Pioneer or Early Settler certificate to a direct descendant of a person who lived in Kansas before 1900.

Eligibility

1. To receive the Territorial Certificate an applicant must be a direct descendant of an ancestor who lived in Kansas prior to 29 January 1861.
   
2. To receive the Pioneer Certificate an applicant must be a direct descendant of an ancestor who lived in Kansas between 29 January 1861 and 31 December 1880.
   
3. To receive the Early Settler Certificate, an applicant must be a direct descendant of an ancestor who lived in Kansas between 1 January 1881 and 31 December 1900.
   
4. 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.)
   
5. 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 a the four-page application form. This form includes the certificate application (page 1), permission to publish (page 2), a line of descendant chart (page 3) and a pedigree chart (page 4). In addition, each application will need to submit documentation to substantiate the information included in the line of descent chart. Pages 1 and 4 will be printed in a Forgotten Settlers book at a later date.

The documentation sent to establish eligibility for a certificate is placed in the Library and Archives Division of the Kansas State Historical Society. It is available to researchers as part of The Forgotten Settlers of Kansas manuscript collection, no. 206. For information about doing research in person at the Center for Historical Research, please go to the KSHS website, http://www.kshs.org/places/chr/index.htm. Information on reference policies and requesting copies by mail is at http://www.kshs.org/contact/ask_question.htm. When requesting copies, the file number, either a letter-number combination such as G28 or a number such as 5922, should be included if possible. It appears at the bottom of each Form #1 in the published The Forgotten Settlers of Kansas volumes, available in many Kansas and some out-of-state libraries.

The cost of the certificate is $7.00 for out-of-state residents and $7.50 for Kansas resident.

Apply for Your Certificate Today
Complete Forgotten Settlers Certificate Application in PDF Format
Please click on "Shrink to Fit" when printing

Return all four pages of the completed application with copies of documentation to
KANSAS COUNCIL OF GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES
PO BOX 3858
TOPEKA KS 66604-6858