Hi Linda,
I don't have much information for you, but I just started reading a book by John Ise called "Sod and Stubble". I found it in our local library. It's a great book that describes the experiences of the Ise family from the 1870's in Osborne County with many references to families and incidents. Although some names were changed, the footnotes give the real names and background of most of the people mentioned.

Thie History of Kansas by William Cutler is available on line and can be searched by county at: http://www.ukans.edu/carrie/kancoll/books/cutler/.

Other sites include; the City of Osborne - http://history.cc.ukans.edu/heritage/towns/osborne.html, and several sites from Downs - http://www.downsks.net/, http://skyways.lib.ks.us/kansas/towns/Downs/downs.htm, http://www.downsnews.com/railroadtown/.

Let me know if this helps.