Lenexa Tutors Come To You

The story is told that Lenexa, Kansas, was almost named “Bradshaw” after C.A. Bradshaw, who sold the land present-day Lenexa is on to the civil engineer who platted the land. Bradshaw apparently declined the honor of having the city named after him. City officials instead named the town after Na-Nex-Se, wife of Thomas Blackhoof, chief of the Shawnee Indians.

In census records, Na-Nex-Se was also recorded with an alternate name, Len-Ag-See, so it’s possible the combination of her two names is what the name Lenexa was derived from. Who is this Indian woman who garnered so much respect that a town would be named after her?

Na-Nex-Se’s story unfolds along with the history of her husband’s father, the first Chief Blackhoof. Not much is known about his early days, except that he lived in Ohio, and when confronted with the unstoppable migration of white settlers into the area, he encouraged the Shawnee to accept and adopt the ways of the white man. His followers established farms in Ohio but still had regular conflicts with the settlers, so Chief Blackhoof led several hundred of his followers to a new territory called Kansas. Chief Blackhoof eventually returned to Ohio, where he died in 1831. His son, Thomas, became chief in 1832.

Like Na-Nex-Se, Thomas had been educated in Ohio. According to historical records, he married Na-Nex-Se at the Shawnee Indian Mission in 1843. Like his father, the second Chief Thomas Blackhoof was a well-respected leader, and both he and his wife were devout Christians. In 1854, the Shawnee replaced the hereditary right to leadership with elected leadership; Thomas was the last hereditary chief and one of the first elected chiefs in this new “modern” system of tribal government.

One of Thomas’ tasks as chief was to represent the Shawnee in signing the Treaty of 1854, which ceded much of the Shawnee’s land to the U.S. government. The treaty reduced the Shawnee Reservation to 200,000 acres from its original 1.6 million acres, but it also included the condition that every Shawnee man, woman, and child would receive 200 acres. Unfortunately, Thomas died before he was given his 640-acre allotment (bigger because of his greater service to the Shawnee).

Now widowed, Na-Nex-Se focused on farming her acreage. According to papers held by the Kansas State Historical Society, she was a productive farmer, and in 1866, she raised pigs and cattle and harvested 500 bushels of corn, 100 bushels of potatoes, and 200 bushels of oats.

The census of 1870 does not mention Na-Nex-Se, so it is presumed that she had died by then. In choosing her in 1869 to be the city’s namesake, city officials affirmed their respect for her strength, work ethic, and ability to merge her Shawnee heritage with changes brought by the wave of white settlers. Today, visitors can find a bronze statue of Na-Nex-Se at the Lenexa Municipal Complex, a lasting tribute to her character and reputation.