The Person:
From Wikipedia entry on Henry Leavenworth:
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"Henry Leavenworth (December 10, 1783 – July 21, 1834) was an American soldier active in the War of 1812 and early military expeditions against the Plains Indians. He established Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, and also gave his name to Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Kansas, and the Leavenworth Penitentiary.
He was born at New Haven, Connecticut, a son of Col. Jesse and Catharine (Conklin) Leavenworth. Soon after his birth his parents became alienated and his father moved with the children to Danville, Vermont, where he was educated. He then read law with General Erastus Root of Delhi, New York; and upon being admitted to the bar formed a partnership with his preceptor which lasted until 1812.
Leavenworth was commissioned as a captain in the 25th U. S. Infantry in April 1812, shortly before the outbreak of the War of 1812. In August 1813 he was promoted to major of the 9th Infantry. He was wounded at the Battle of Niagara on July 25, 1814, and the following November was brevetted to the rank of colonel.
After the war, he then served in the New York State Assembly, in 1816, and then he went to Prairie du Chien as Indian agent, and on February 10, 1818, was made lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth U. S. Infantry. In 1820 he began constructing Fort St. Anthony from the Cantonment New Hope stockade.
In 1823, he led U.S. Army troops in the Arikara War, the first U.S. military expedition against a Great Plains Indian nation. While on duty in the West he built several military posts, one of which was Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, established May 8, 1827 as Cantonment Leavenworth, now one of the leading military establishments of the country. In 1825 he was made brigadier-general by brevet.
In 1834 he commanded the United States Regiment of Dragoons during its expedition from Fort Gibson, Indian Territory to the Wichita Mountains. The artist George Catlin was also in this expedition, and wrote of Leavenworth's death. They hoped to meet and open formal relations among the United States and the Comanche, Kiowa, and Wichita (tribe) peoples.
General Leavenworth died in the Cross Timbers, in the Indian Territory, July 21, 1834, of either sickness or an accident while buffalo-hunting; while leading an expedition against the Pawnee and Comanche. His regiment erected a monument at Cross Timbers; he was first buried in Delhi, with his remains later reinterred at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery."
The Place:
From the Wikipedia page for Leavenworth County, Kansas:
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"Leavenworth County (county code LV) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 76,227. Its county seat and most populous city is Leavenworth.
In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1855, Leavenworth County was established, and is among the first 33 counties, which were formed by the first territorial government. It was named, as was its county seat, after Henry Leavenworth, an officer in the War of 1812.
Leavenworth County had the first Kansas State University extension agent in the State."
The Courthouse:
From the National Register Application:
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"The Leavenworth County Courthouse is a Classical Revival style, three-story masonry structure that occupies a full square block that is several blocks south of the Leavenworth, Kansas historic business district. The primary façade faces south onto Walnut Street. The courthouse has a rectangular plan and measures approximately 200 feet wide by 70 feet deep by 70 feet high. On the south side of the courthouse at the primary entrance is a World War I memorial that rests on a rough-cut stone base. On the northwest side of the courthouse is a small obelisk.
The courthouse walls are cut limestone masonry units laid in running bond with a rusticated limestone foundation and limestone quoins. The limestone walls, in some instances, face the soft brick walls that remained after the fire destroyed the earlier 1870s courthouse. Projecting limestone sills define the first- and second-floor windowsills. A restrained cornice and parapet delineate the roofline of the flat roof. Two-story pedimented porticos define the primary entrances on the north and south facades, and one-story porticos with flat roofs define the side entrances on the east andwest facades. Except for the replacement of window and door units and the reconfiguration of the second floor, the courthouse retains the majority of its original exterior and interior features. Erected in 1911-1913 as a county courthouse, the structure continues to serve as a county courthouse.