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Home >> State of Arkansas >> Hempstead County >> Sheppard >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Sheppard (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Sheppard. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Sheppard is located in Hempstead County.

To see how the shape of Arkansas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Hempstead County: Clark, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada & Pike.

Below are the counties that are near Sheppard. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sheppard:

  • Hempstead County     (The home county of Sheppard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sheppard, with the one closest to Sheppard listed first.
    • Fulton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • McNab
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • McNab is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNab
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
    • Hope
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Oakhaven
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Oakhaven is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakhaven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
    • Washington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Shover Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Perrytown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Perrytown is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrytown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Columbus
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Patmos
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Patmos is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patmos
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
    • Centerville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Ozan
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Ozan is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
    • Clow
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Blevins
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Howard County
  • Lafayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sheppard, with the one closest to Sheppard listed first.
    • Old Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Old Town is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Lewisville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Stamps
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kress City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Kress City is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kress City
    • Buckner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Buckner is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckner
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • McKamie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Little River County
  • Miller County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sheppard, with the one closest to Sheppard listed first.
    • Garland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Genoa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Genoa is located in Miller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
    • Rondo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Texarkana
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Roberts ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Roberts is located in Miller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts
    • Fouke
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sheppard, with the one closest to Sheppard listed first.
    • Emmet
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Emmet is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
    • Bodcaw
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Laneburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Prescott
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Rosston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Willisville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Willisville is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willisville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
    • Boughton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Cale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Cale is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
  • Pike County
  • Sevier County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sheppard, with the one closest to Sheppard listed first.
    • Paraloma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ben Lomond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bowie County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sheppard, with the one closest to Sheppard listed first.
    • Texarkana
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Nash
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wake Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Red Lick
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Red Lick is located in Bowie County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Lick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,025 people
    • Sulphur
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Leary
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Leary is located in Bowie County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 502 people

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sheppard, see our County-by-County Page for Sheppard.

Cemeteries Near Sheppard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sheppard.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Sheppard - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sheppard covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sheppard, with the one closest to Sheppard listed first.

  • Flowers Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Foster Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Wilson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Red Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Sullivan Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Hervey Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Westmorland Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Mark Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Fulton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Phillips Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (170 more) ...
    • Bethany Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Robinson Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bright Star Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Sheppard had railroad service and no post office.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Sheppard, with the one closest to Sheppard listed first.

  • Guernsey
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Guernsey is located in Hempstead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guernsey
  • Fulton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hope
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Sardis ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sardis is located in Hempstead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis
  • Washington
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Homan
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Homan is located in Miller County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homan
  • Shover Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Columbus
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • De Ann
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • De Ann is located in Hempstead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Ann
  • Saratoga
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Ozan
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Ozan is located in Hempstead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozan
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
  • Allbrook
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Allbrook is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allbrook
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Millwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • McKinney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • McKinney is located in Miller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinney
    • Clayton ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Clayton is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sheppard. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sheppard.

Newspapers Published in Sheppard ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sheppard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sheppard, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sheppard.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Sheppard:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Sheppard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sheppard) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.