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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 East Ottumwa (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 East Ottumwa. 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 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 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.

East Ottumwa is located in Wapello County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Wapello County: Appanoose, Davis, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe & Van Buren.

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

  • Wapello County     (The home county of East Ottumwa)
  • Appanoose County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Ottumwa, with the one closest to East Ottumwa listed first.
    • Unionville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
      • Unionville is located in Appanoose County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 95 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Unionville <1>
    • Orleans
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orleans have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
      • Orleans is located in Appanoose County
    • Udell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Moravia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Moulton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moulton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton
      • Moulton is located in Appanoose County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 580 people
    • Darbyville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rathbun
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rathbun have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathbun
      • Rathbun is located in Appanoose County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
  • Davis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Ottumwa, with the one closest to East Ottumwa listed first.
    • Carbon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
      • Carbon is located in Davis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carbon
      • From East Ottumwa to Carbon
    • Floris
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Chequest
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chequest. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chequest
      • Chequest is located in Davis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chequest
      • From East Ottumwa to Chequest
    • Drakesville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Bloomfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Paris
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • West Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pulaski
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pulaski have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulaski
      • Pulaski is located in Davis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
    • Mark
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mark. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mark
      • Mark is located in Davis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mark
      • From East Ottumwa to Mark
    • Stiles
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stiles. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stiles
      • Stiles is located in Davis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Stiles
      • From East Ottumwa to Stiles
    • Savannah
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Savannah have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savannah
      • Savannah is located in Davis County
  • Jefferson County
  • Keokuk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Ottumwa, with the one closest to East Ottumwa listed first.
    • Hedrick
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hedrick have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedrick
      • Hedrick is located in Keokuk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 743 people
    • Martinsburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martinsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsburg
      • Martinsburg is located in Keokuk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
    • Hayesville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayesville
      • Hayesville is located in Keokuk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
    • Ollie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Delta
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Richland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Sigourney
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sigourney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sigourney
      • Sigourney is located in Keokuk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,980 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sigourney <1>
    • What Cheer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Coal Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Harper
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harper have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
      • Harper is located in Keokuk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
    • Talleyrand
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Thornburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Mahaska County
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Ottumwa, with the one closest to East Ottumwa listed first.
    • Bussey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hamilton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Ottumwa, with the one closest to East Ottumwa listed first.
    • Avery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Avery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
      • Avery is located in Monroe County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Avery
      • From East Ottumwa to Avery
    • Albia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Bluff Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Lovilia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lovilia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovilia
      • Lovilia is located in Monroe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lovilia <1>
    • Georgetown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Van Buren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Ottumwa, with the one closest to East Ottumwa listed first.
    • Selma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Douds
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Leando
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Birmingham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Birmingham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
      • Birmingham is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 423 people
    • Kilbourn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Milton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
      • Milton is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <1>
    • Keosauqua
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cantril
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cantril have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cantril
      • Cantril is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cantril <1>
    • Stockport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Washington County
    • Rubio
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rubio have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rubio
      • Rubio is located in Washington County

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

Cemeteries Near East Ottumwa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of East Ottumwa.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Calvary Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Round Point Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Round Point Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Round Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kitterman Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kitterman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kitterman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hebrew Jewish Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hebrew Jewish Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hebrew Jewish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ottumwa Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ottumwa Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ottumwa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shaul Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shaul Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shaul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McIntire Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Agency City Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Dahlonega Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Memorial Lawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Lawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memorial Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Chief Wapello Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chief Wapello Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chief Wapello Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (487 more) ...
    • Garrison Rock Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garrison Rock Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garrison Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • County Farm Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the County Farm Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the County Farm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • County Farm #1 Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the County Farm #1 Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the County Farm #1 Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

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

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

  • Ottumwa
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Cliffland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Agency
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Agency have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agency
    • Agency is located in Wapello County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 641 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Agency <1>
  • Dahlonega
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Keb ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keb have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keb
    • Keb is located in Wapello County
  • Carbon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
    • Carbon is located in Davis County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Carbon
    • From East Ottumwa to Carbon
  • Bladensburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bladensburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bladensburg
    • Bladensburg is located in Wapello County
  • Ormanville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ormanville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ormanville
    • Ormanville is located in Wapello County
  • Highland Center
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Bidwell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bidwell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell
    • Bidwell is located in Wapello County
  • Chillicothe
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chillicothe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chillicothe
    • Chillicothe is located in Wapello County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
  • Floris
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in East Ottumwa ...

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 93 newspapers that have been published in the area around East Ottumwa.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of East Ottumwa, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for East Ottumwa.

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 East Ottumwa:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for East Ottumwa. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 East Ottumwa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- East Ottumwa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in East Ottumwa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0081, Longitude: -92.3764       In this case, the coordinates for East Ottumwa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025