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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 Bradford (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 Bradford. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 south 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.

Bradford is located in Franklin County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Franklin County: Butler, Cerro Gordo, Hardin & Wright.

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

  • Franklin County     (The home county of Bradford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradford, with the one closest to Bradford listed first.
    • Reeve
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Reeve is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeve
    • Geneva
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hampton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Faulkner
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Faulkner is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faulkner
    • Coulter
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Coulter is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coulter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Popejoy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Popejoy is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popejoy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
    • Latimer
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Oakland is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
    • Hansell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Chapin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Chapin is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapin
    • Alexander
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Alexander is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
    • Sheffield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Sheffield is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,096 people
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradford, with the one closest to Bradford listed first.
    • Austinville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Austinville is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
    • Dumont
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Kesley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Kesley is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kesley
    • Aplington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Aredale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Bristow
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Bristow is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
    • Butler Center
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Butler Center is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler Center
    • Allison
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Parkersburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Coster
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Coster is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coster
    • Sinclair
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Sinclair is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinclair
    • Greene
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Cerro Gordo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradford, with the one closest to Bradford listed first.
    • Thornton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Thornton is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 401 people
    • Dougherty
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Dougherty is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dougherty
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Meservey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Meservey is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meservey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 237 people
    • Rockwell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Swaledale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Swaledale is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swaledale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
    • Cartersville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Cartersville is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartersville
    • Burchinal
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Burchinal is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burchinal
  • Floyd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradford, with the one closest to Bradford listed first.
    • Aureola
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Aureola is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aureola
    • Marble Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradford, with the one closest to Bradford listed first.
    • Buck Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Buck Grove is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Grove
    • Wellsburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fern
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Fern is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern
    • Holland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Stout
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Stout is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stout
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
    • Grundy Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradford, with the one closest to Bradford listed first.
    • Williams
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Blairsburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Blairsburg is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • Ellsworth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Kamrar
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jewell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jewell is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,138 people
      • Jewell has also been known as:
      • Jewell Junction
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jewell <1>
  • Hancock County
    • Goodell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Goodell is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradford, with the one closest to Bradford listed first.
    • Iowa Falls
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Robertson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Robertson is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertson
    • Alden
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ackley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Eagle City is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle City
    • Abbott
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Abbott is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbott
    • Owasa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Owasa is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owasa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
    • Cleves
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Cleves is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleves
    • Buckeye
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Buckeye is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
    • Steamboat Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Eldora
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Sherman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Sherman is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherman
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradford, with the one closest to Bradford listed first.
    • Dows
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Rowan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Galt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Solberg ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Solberg is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solberg
    • Belmond
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Cornelia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Cornelia is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornelia
    • Clarion
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Olaf
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Olaf is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olaf
    • Holmes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Holmes is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
    • Woolstock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Woolstock is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolstock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people

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

Cemeteries Near Bradford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bradford.

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 Bradford - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Maynes Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Maysville Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Peters Evangelical Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Towle Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Paul's Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • St. Marks Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Friends Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Lindenwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (186 more) ...
    • Jones Park Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hampton Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • St. Peter's Lutheran Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

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>

While we didn't find Bradford in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bradford.

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

  • Reeve
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Reeve is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeve
  • Geneva
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Burdette
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Burdette is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdette
  • Iowa Falls
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Hampton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Faulkner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Faulkner is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faulkner
  • Popejoy
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Popejoy is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popejoy
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
  • Alden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Robertson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Robertson is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertson
  • Latimer
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Ackley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Hansell
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Abbott
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Abbott is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbott
    • Abbott Crossing ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Abbott Crossing is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbott Crossing
    • Dows
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Bradford ...

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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bradford.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bradford, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bradford.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Bradford:

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 Bradford, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bradford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.