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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 Le Roy (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 Le Roy. 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.

Le Roy 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 Le Roy. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Le Roy:

  • Decatur County     (The home county of Le Roy)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Le Roy, with the one closest to Le Roy listed first.
    • Garden Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Van Wert
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Woodland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Leon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Decatur City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Decatur City is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Morgan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Grand River
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Grand River is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
    • Davis City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasanton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Lamoni
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Appanoose County
    • Plano
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Clarke County
  • Lucas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Le Roy, with the one closest to Le Roy listed first.
    • Derby
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Derby is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
    • Lucas
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Chariton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Russell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Williamson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Zero
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Olmitz
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Olmitz is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olmitz
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Le Roy, with the one closest to Le Roy listed first.
    • Truro
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Barney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • East Peru
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Charles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Marion County
  • Monroe County
  • Ringgold County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Le Roy, with the one closest to Le Roy listed first.
    • Beaconsfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Beaconsfield is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaconsfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
    • Kellerton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ellston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Ellston is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Le Roy, with the one closest to Le Roy listed first.
    • Thayer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lorimor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Warren County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Le Roy, with the one closest to Le Roy listed first.
    • Humeston
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Millerton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Millerton is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Allerton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Corydon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hodge
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hodge is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge
    • Clio
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Lineville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Lineville is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lineville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
    • Confidence
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Promise City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Seymour
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Harrison County (MO)
  • Mercer County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Le Roy, with the one closest to Le Roy listed first.
    • South Lineville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • South Lineville is located in Mercer County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lineville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
    • Mercer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Burrows
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Ravanna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Putnam County (MO)
    • Powersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Powersville is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people

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

Cemeteries Near Le Roy ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Le Roy.

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 Le Roy - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Doze Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Blair Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Metier Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Winters Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Morman Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Garden Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Gwinn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Smyrna Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Green Bay Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • McCullough Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Humeston Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Last Chance Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (304 more) ...
    • Trullinger Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Horton Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hebron Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)

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 in 1895, Le Roy had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Le Roy had a population of 14 people.

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

  • Garden Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
  • Smyrna
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Smyrna is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
  • Humeston
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Weldon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • High Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • High Point is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Derby
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Derby is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
  • Woodburn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Green Bay ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Cambria
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Cambria is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria
  • Van Wert
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Saxon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Saxon is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxon
  • Leslie
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Leslie is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie
  • 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 Le Roy. See our List of 1890's Communities around Le Roy.

Newspapers Published in Le Roy ...

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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Le Roy.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Le Roy, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Le Roy.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Le Roy:

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