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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 Kent (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 Kent. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Kent is located in Union 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 Union County: Adair, Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Madison, Ringgold & Taylor.

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

  • Union County     (The home county of Kent)
  • Adair County
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Stringtown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Stringtown is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Prescott
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mercer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Queen City ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Queen City is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
    • Williamson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Corning
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Carl
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Etna
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Etna is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Etna
    • Brooks
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Iveyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Quincy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Quincy is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
    • Carbon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Nodaway
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Nodaway is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodaway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
  • Cass County
  • Clarke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Hopeville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Murray
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Murray is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 681 people
    • Lacelle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Decatur County
    • Grand River
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Grand River is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Macksburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Barney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ord
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Webster
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Villisca
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Clarinda Junction ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Clarinda Junction is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarinda Junction
    • Sciola
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Tenville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Grant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Grant is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
  • Page County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Hawleyville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Hawleyville is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawleyville
    • Hepburn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Hepburn is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hepburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
  • Ringgold County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Knowlton ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Diagonal
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Tingley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Benton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Benton is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
    • Maloy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Ellston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Ellston is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
    • Delphos
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Delphos is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphos
      • Estimated population in 2019: 24 people
    • Mount Ayr
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Beaconsfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Beaconsfield is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaconsfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
    • Redding
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Redding is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
    • Kellerton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Taylor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Lenox
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Clearfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Sharpsburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Conway
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Conway is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
    • Gravity
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Guss
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Blockton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Blockton is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
    • Ladoga
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Bedford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Athelstan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Athelstan is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athelstan
    • New Market
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Worth County (MO)
    • Irena
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Irena is located in Worth County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people

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

Cemeteries Near Kent ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kent.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent 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 Kent had a population of 118 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2000, Kent had a population of 52 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Kent ...

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 148 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kent.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Kent:

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 Kent, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Kent) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.