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Liebenthal, Rush Co., Kansas

The town of Liebenthal was founded on 22 February 1876 by a group of Volga German immigrants who had arrived in Topeka the previous fall. It is the oldest of the Volga German settlements of Ellis and Rush Counties and is located in Section 21, Township 16, Range 18 West of Rush County.

Its founders included the following families (along with the number of people in the family):

from Liebental

Lehigh, Marion Co., Kansas

The town of Lehigh was established in 1877 when the Santa Fe Railroad was laid through Marion County. It had a weekly newspaper, the Marion County Record, publishing as early as 1881. The land on which the town was plotted was originally owned by Lee Hays, and according to one account, the town was named after him.

Many Volga German families settled in and around Lehigh, Kansas, arriving during the first years of the Volga German migration (1870s).