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

Duncan is located in Hancock 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 Hancock County: Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Humboldt, Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth & Wright.

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

  • Hancock County     (The home county of Duncan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Duncan, with the one closest to Duncan listed first.
    • Britt
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Garner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Garner is also located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,031 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garner <1>
    • Klemme
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Klemme is also located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klemme
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Klemme <1>
    • Hutchins
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Crystal Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Crystal Lake is also located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
    • Kanawha
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Woden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Goodell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Corwith
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Corwith is also located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwith
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
  • Cerro Gordo County
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Duncan, with the one closest to Duncan listed first.
    • Alexander
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Latimer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sheffield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sheffield is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,096 people
    • Coulter
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Humboldt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Duncan, with the one closest to Duncan listed first.
    • Renwick
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Hardy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Livermore
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Livermore is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
  • Kossuth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Duncan, with the one closest to Duncan listed first.
    • Wesley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Wesley is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Titonka
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Titonka is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Titonka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
    • Sexton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • German Valley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lu Verne
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Algona
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Irvington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Lakota
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakota is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakota
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 275 people
    • Burt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Burt is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 493 people
    • Bancroft
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Gerled
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Winnebago County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Duncan, with the one closest to Duncan listed first.
    • Forest City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Leland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Thompson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Buffalo Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Mills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Scarville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Vinje
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Rake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Rake is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
  • Worth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Duncan, with the one closest to Duncan listed first.
    • Fertile
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Hanlontown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Hanlontown is located in Worth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanlontown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
    • Joice
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Joice is located in Worth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
    • Bristol
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Manly
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Kensett
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Kensett is located in Worth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
  • Wright County
  • Faribault County (MN)
    • Kiester
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Kiester is located in Faribault County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kiester <1>
  • Freeborn County (MN)
    • Emmons
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Emmons is located in Freeborn County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmons
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 380 people

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

Cemeteries Near Duncan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Duncan.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Duncan, with the one closest to Duncan 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>

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

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

  • Britt
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Garner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Garner is also located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,031 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garner <1>
  • Hayfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hayfield is also located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
  • Miller
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Miller is also located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller
  • Klemme
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Klemme is also located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klemme
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Klemme <1>
  • Hutchins
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Stilson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Stilson is also located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stilson
  • Crystal Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Crystal Lake is also located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
  • Forest City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Goodell
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Corwith
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Corwith is also located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwith
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
  • Wesley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Wesley is located in Kossuth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Duncan ...

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 104 newspapers that have been published in the area around Duncan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Duncan, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Duncan.

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 websites either 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 Duncan:

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 Duncan, 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- Duncan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.