Wabaunsee, a little town in Wabaunsee county, is located in the township of the same name on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 12 miles north of Alma, the county seat. It has churches, schools, general stores, telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice. This is one of the historic villages of the state. The first settlement was made here in 1854 by a colony of 34 people of mixed nationalities. It was followed in 1856 by a colony of 65 members of the Beecher Bible and Rifle company (q. v.), and the stone building erected in 1862 as a home for this organization is one of the old landmarks which attracts old settlers' meetings once a year. Rev. Harvey Jones came to this point as a missionary in 1855. For many years this was the only settlement west of Topeka. It was the county seat until after the war when it lost to Alma after a three years' struggle. Wabaunsee was referred to by the pro-slavery men in the early days as the 'Abolition nest.'