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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 Emerson (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 Emerson. 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 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 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.

Emerson is located in Mills 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 Mills County: Fremont, Montgomery, Pottawattamie, Cass (NE) & Sarpy (NE).

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

  • Mills County     (The home county of Emerson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Emerson, with the one closest to Emerson listed first.
    • Hastings
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Hastings is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
    • Henderson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Clark
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Clark is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
    • Malvern
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Silver City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Mineola
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Glenwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Pacific City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Pacific City is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific City
    • Pacific Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Folsom
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Folsom is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folsom
    • Hentons ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Hentons is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hentons
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Emerson, with the one closest to Emerson listed first.
    • Strand
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Nodaway
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Nodaway is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodaway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Lincoln Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Lincoln Center is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Center
    • Carbon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Cass County
  • Fremont County
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Emerson, with the one closest to Emerson listed first.
    • Red Oak
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Coburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Coburg is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
    • Stanton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Elliott
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarinda Junction ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Clarinda Junction is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarinda Junction
    • Sciola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Tenville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Grant
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Grant is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Villisca
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Page County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Emerson, with the one closest to Emerson listed first.
    • Essex
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Nyman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shenandoah
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Tarkio City ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Tarkio City is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarkio City
    • Hepburn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Hepburn is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hepburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
    • Yorktown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Yorktown is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorktown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
    • Coin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Clarinda
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Northboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Hawleyville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hawleyville is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawleyville
  • Pottawattamie County
  • Cass County (NE)
  • Sarpy County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Emerson, with the one closest to Emerson listed first.
    • La Platte
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Avery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Avery is located in Sarpy County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
    • Bellevue
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Gilmore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Gilmore is located in Sarpy County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore

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

Cemeteries Near Emerson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Emerson.

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

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

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

  • Emerson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Lowens Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • North Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Walnut Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • South Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hasting Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • David Farm Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Wearin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Parker Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Saylers Farm Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wesley Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (227 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Emerson had a population of 404 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Emerson had a population of 435 people.

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

  • Hawthorne
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hawthorne is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawthorne
  • Hastings
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hastings is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
  • White Cloud
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • White Cloud is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Cloud
  • Strahan
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Strahan is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strahan
  • Wales
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Wales is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wales
  • Clark
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Clark is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
  • Solomon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Solomon is located in Mills County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solomon
  • Henderson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Imogene
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Coburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Coburg is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
  • Red Oak
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Malvern
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • 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 Emerson. See our List of 1890's Communities around Emerson.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Emerson ...

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 Emerson.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Emerson. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Emerson and those printed in the larger area surrounding Emerson.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Emerson.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Emerson:

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 Emerson, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Emerson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.