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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 Davis City (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 Davis City. 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 and hospitals 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.

Davis City is located in Decatur 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 Decatur County: Clarke, Ringgold, Wayne, Harrison (MO) & Mercer (MO).

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

  • Decatur County     (The home county of Davis City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis City, with the one closest to Davis City listed first.
    • Pleasanton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lamoni
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Decatur City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Decatur City is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Leon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Morgan
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Woodland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Grand River
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Grand River is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
    • Van Wert
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Garden Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Le Roy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Clarke County
  • Lucas County
    • Derby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Derby is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
  • Ringgold County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis City, with the one closest to Davis City listed first.
    • Kellerton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Beaconsfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Beaconsfield is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaconsfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
    • Ellston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Ellston is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
    • Mount Ayr
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Tingley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Delphos
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Delphos is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphos
      • Estimated population in 2019: 24 people
    • Benton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Benton is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
    • Diagonal
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Knowlton ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Redding
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Redding is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis City, with the one closest to Davis City listed first.
    • Shannon City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Thayer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Arispe
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis City, with the one closest to Davis City listed first.
    • Lineville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Lineville is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lineville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
    • Clio
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Hodge
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Hodge is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge
    • Humeston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Allerton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Corydon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Millerton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Millerton is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Gentry County (MO)
  • Grundy County (MO)
    • Spickard
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Harrison County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis City, with the one closest to Davis City listed first.
    • Akron
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Blythedale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Blythedale is located in Harrison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blythedale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • Cainsville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Eagleville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Ridgeway
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Hatfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hatfield is located in Harrison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatfield
    • Mount Moriah
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Mount Moriah is located in Harrison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Moriah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Gardner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Martinsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Martinsville is located in Harrison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
    • Bethany
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Bethany is located in Harrison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,049 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bethany <1>
  • Mercer County (MO)
  • Putnam County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis City, with the one closest to Davis City listed first.
    • Powersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Powersville is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
    • Lucerne
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lucerne is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucerne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Sullivan County (MO)
  • Worth County (MO)

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

Cemeteries Near Davis City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Davis City.

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 Davis City - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Davis City, with the one closest to Davis City 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Davis City had a population of 594 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Davis City had a population of 187 people.

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

  • Blockly
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Blockly is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockly
  • Pleasanton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Lamoni
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Andover
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Andover is located in Harrison County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
  • Leon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Akron
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Burrows
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Saline
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Saline is located in Mercer County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline
  • Morgan
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Adel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Adel is located in Mercer County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adel
  • Wataga
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Wataga is located in Mercer County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wataga
  • Woodland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Blythedale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Blythedale is located in Harrison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blythedale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • Kingston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Kingston is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
    • Cainsville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Davis City ...

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 130 newspapers that have been published in the area around Davis City.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Davis City. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Davis City and those printed in the larger area surrounding Davis City.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Davis City.

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 Davis City:

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>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- Davis City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Davis City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.