[1] The county is named in honor of Lewis Stafford, a captain of Company E, First Kansas Infantry, who died at the Battle of Young's Point during the American Civil War.

Amidst this legal turmoil, settlers began to establish themselves in the county.

[5] In addition to individual settlers, a sizable Mormon settlement, known as Zion Valley, was established near St. John in the spring of 1875.

Led by William Bickerton, this community established the county's first post office and erected a frame temple before internal disputes led to its dissolution and the temple's conversion into a commercial establishment.

[5] The early economy of Stafford County was heavily reliant on the gathering of buffalo bones, which were abundant across the region.

This industry proved, however, to be short-lived, as the easily accessible bone deposits were quickly depleted.

33.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Although the Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters, Stafford County remained a prohibition, or "dry", county[14] until an election in 2016 when this prohibition was removed by 1,304 to 535, 71% of the vote.