RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Appanoose County >> Centerville >> 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 Centerville (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 Centerville. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Centerville is located in Appanoose County and is the County Seat.

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 Appanoose County: Davis, Lucas, Monroe, Wapello, Wayne, Putnam (MO) & Schuyler (MO).

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

  • Appanoose County     (The home county of Centerville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
    • Sunshine
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Rathbun
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Rathbun is located in Appanoose County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathbun
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
    • Clarkdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Brazil
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Darbyville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Mystic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Mystic is located in Appanoose County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Exline
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Exline is located in Appanoose County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exline
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
    • Walnut City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Numa
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Udell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Cincinnati
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jerome
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Plano
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Davis County
  • Lucas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
    • Zero
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Russell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Olmitz
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Olmitz is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olmitz
    • Chariton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Marion County
  • Monroe County
  • Wapello County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
    • Blakesburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Bidwell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Bidwell is located in Wapello County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell
    • Dudley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chillicothe
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Chillicothe is located in Wapello County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chillicothe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Ottumwa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
    • Seymour
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Promise City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Genoa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Confidence
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Corydon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Millerton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Millerton is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Allerton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hodge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Hodge is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge
  • Putnam County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
    • Pearl City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Pearl City is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
    • Mendota
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Livonia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Livonia is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livonia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Unionville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Saint John
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Worthington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Powersville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Powersville is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
    • Lucerne
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lucerne is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucerne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Schuyler County (MO)
  • Sullivan County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
    • Pennville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Pollock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Pollock is located in Sullivan County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pollock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people

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

Cemeteries Near Centerville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Centerville.

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

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

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

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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Centerville had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Centerville had a population of 5,414 people.

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

  • Forbush
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Forbush is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbush
  • Brazil
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Exline
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Exline is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exline
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
  • Sedan
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Sedan is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedan
  • Mystic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mystic is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
  • Diamond
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Diamond is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
  • Numa
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Walnut City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cincinnati
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Udell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Garfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Garfield is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
  • Maine
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Maine is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Jerome
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Plano
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Dean
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Dean is located in Appanoose County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Centerville ...

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 Centerville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Centerville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Centerville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Centerville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Centerville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Centerville:

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>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<3>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 Centerville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Centerville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.