The Superior Express -

On June 16, 1870, before Jewell County existed, Col. Eldon Barker was commissioned the county notary public. He was the first county official in Jewell County. Barker homesteaded just west of present-day Jewell on section 28 of Calvin Township.

Barker and Orville L. McClung (whose homestead was just north of the future town of Jewell on Section 12 of Calvin Township) circulated a petition to establish Jewell County. With the needed signatures, the two men hand delivered the petition to Kansas Governor James M. Harvey in Topeka.

On July 14, 1870, the petition was granted and they received the names of the first three Jewell County commissioners and the first Jewell County clerk. The commissioners were Charles L. Seeley, Andrew J. Davis and Felix T. Gandy. James A. Scarbrough was appointed county clerk.

Seeley was homesteading just southeast of Jewell on Section 5 of Prairie Township. Born in New York in 1830, he had been moving west for several years. He arrived in the Jewell area in April, coming not from the east but from California to the west. Seeley was one of the 28 men in the "Buffalo Militia."

In 1872, he married Rachel Mahala Romine. The two lived and farmed in Jewell County. Charles "a real pioneer" according to his obituary, died in 1917. Rachel then moved to California to be near their son. At her death in 1926, her remains were returned to Jewell County to be buried next to her husband.

Andrew J. Davis was also a homesteader. His homestead was in Section 9 of Allen Township, near the future town of Vicksburgh. Davis, among others, was in Jewell County in 1869 but he did not stay for the winter. He is credited with being the first permanent settler in the southern part of the county, settling in early March of 1870.

His home was the site of the first election in November of 1870. At this election, Davis was elected the first Jewell County sheriff.

The third commissioner was Civil War veteran, Felix T. Gandy. Gandy was part of the group that homesteaded about four miles north of Jewell. His homestead was in Section 1 of Calvin Township. The November 1870 election saw him elected Jewell County's first state representative.

Jewell County is 150 years old. Charles L. Seeley, buried in the Jewell Cemetery, was one of the first three men to serve as a Jewell County commissioner. The other two were Felix T. Gandy and Andrew J. Davis. James A. Scarbrough was the first Jewell County clerk.

Gandy was married to Belle Carmichael. By 1880 they were living in Rubens in Richland Township. There he ran a hardware store, selling among other things, Studebaker wagons. After his wife died in 1883, he moved to Sherman County and founded the town of Gandy. Belle is buried in Montana Cemetery in Montana Township while Felix is buried in Marshalltown, Iowa.

The final appointed official was the county clerk, James A. Scarbrough. Scarbrough is a well-known name in Jewell and Jewell County history. The large hill east of Jewell is Scarbrough Hill. Scarbrough was the second lieutenant in the Buffalo Militia. He was appointed Jewell County clerk but also ran and was twice elected county clerk.

Scarbrough's health gave out and though he sought medical help in various places, he died in 1880. He is buried in Athens Cemetery.

These four officials received their commissions from Barker and McClung on July 20, 1870. They began their duties on August 4, 1870, by holding the first Jewell County commission meeting.