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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 Lucas (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 Lucas. 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 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.

Lucas is located in Lucas 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 Lucas County: Appanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Marion, Monroe, Warren & Wayne.

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

  • Lucas County     (The home county of Lucas)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lucas, with the one closest to Lucas listed first.
    • Derby
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Derby is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
    • Chariton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Williamson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Russell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Olmitz
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Olmitz is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olmitz
    • Zero
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Appanoose County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lucas, with the one closest to Lucas listed first.
    • Iconium
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Plano
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Walnut City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Clarke County
  • Decatur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lucas, with the one closest to Lucas listed first.
    • Le Roy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Garden Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Van Wert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Leon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Decatur City
      (27 miles [43.5 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
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Grand River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 Lucas, with the one closest to Lucas listed first.
    • Truro
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Charles
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • East Peru
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Barney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Patterson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Marion County
  • Monroe County
  • Union County
    • Thayer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Warren County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lucas, with the one closest to Lucas listed first.
    • Humeston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Millerton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Millerton is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Corydon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Confidence
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Allerton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Hodge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Hodge is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge
    • Promise City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Clio
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Seymour
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lineville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Lineville is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lineville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people

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

Cemeteries Near Lucas ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lucas.

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

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

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

  • Fry Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Grimes Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Goshen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Gay Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Parr Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Clore Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Webb Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Brinegar Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Wren Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Last Chance Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Norwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (327 more) ...
    • Derby Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Waynick Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • County Farm Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Lucas had a population of 1,320 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lucas had a population of 207 people.

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

  • Indianola Junction
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Indianola Junction is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianola Junction
  • Whitebreast
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Whitebreast is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitebreast
  • Norwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Norwood is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
  • Derby
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Derby is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
  • Oakley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Oakley is located in Lucas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakley
  • Woodburn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Chariton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Jay
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jay is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jay
  • Smyrna
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Smyrna is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
  • Newbern
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lacona
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Le Roy
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lucas ...

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 121 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lucas.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lucas. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lucas and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lucas.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Lucas.

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 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 Lucas:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Lucas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Lucas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.