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 receiv...