Many things have amazed me about our great Civil War and this one was the newest.
Noah V. Kness was a citizen of Jefferson County, Iowa. Noah visited his sister in Kansas, and while there enlisted in the 7th Kansas Cavalry. For whatever reason the K was left off his last name. Probably because the K was silent.
Noah V. Ness as he was now called died in Abbeville, MS from wounds received a few days before in August of 1864. In the 1870's the state of Kansas wanted to Honor some of her soldiers by naming counties after them.
Apparently no one had bothered to tell the Kansas authories that Mr. Kness was really from Iowa. So a Ness County was named after him. And then a Ness City was named for him. And now in the town square of Ness City in Ness County a statue of Noah V. Ness can be found. The only problem is that Noah V. Ness never existed.
I have contacted the locals at Ness City and they all have been looking for Noah V. Ness (their cities namesake) for dozens of years with no luck. The reason is that his name was really Noah V. Kness and he was from Iowa.
Entering Ness City on your computer you too can find his statue at the square.
Noah V. Kness can be found with his father at the Jefferson County Census of 1856. His family had been told he died at the battle of Tallahassee, Tn. What they really met was the battle of Tallahatchie, Mississippi.
While many of you may be amused at this story the majority of the people in Ness City, Kansas know nothing about their namesake being from Iowa.
So three cheers for an Iowan who by accident and by mistake would have a county and a town named after him.