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 Martinsburg (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 Martinsburg. 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 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 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.
Martinsburg is located in Keokuk 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 Keokuk County: Iowa, Jefferson, Mahaska, Poweshiek, Wapello & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near Martinsburg. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Martinsburg:
- Keokuk County (The home county of Martinsburg)
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Hedrick
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Hedrick is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedrick
- Population from the 2020 Census: 743 people
- Nugent
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Nugent is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nugent
- Hayesville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Hayesville is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
- Ollie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ollie is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ollie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- Delta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Delta is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
- Sigourney
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Richland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- What Cheer
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Harper
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Harper is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
- Talleyrand
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Talleyrand is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talleyrand
- Keswick
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Webster
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Webster is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
- Davis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Carbon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Carbon is located in Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Floris
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Floris is located in Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floris
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Chequest
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Chequest is located in Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chequest
- Drakesville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Henry County
- Wayland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Ambrose
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Ambrose is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ambrose
- North English
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Millersburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Millersburg is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
- Parnell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Pekin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Pekin is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pekin
- Linby
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Linby is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linby
- Abingdon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Abingdon is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abingdon
- Packwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Packwood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
- Batavia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Maharishi Vedic City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Maharishi Vedic City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maharishi Vedic City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,288 people
- Libertyville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Libertyville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
- Perlee
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Perlee is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perlee
- Fairfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Plain
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Plain is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Glasgow
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Glasgow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow
- Lockridge
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mahaska County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Fremont
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Rose Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rose Hill is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
- Cedar
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Cedar is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
- Exeelsior
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Exeelsior is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeelsior
- Wright
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Wright is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
- Keomah Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Keomah Village is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keomah Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
- Indianapolis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Indianapolis is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianapolis
- University Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- University Park is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 468 people
- Givin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Givin is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Givin
- Oskaloosa
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Beacon
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Beacon is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beacon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 488 people
- Lakonta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Lakonta is located in Mahaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakonta
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Avery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Avery is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
- Albia
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Poweshiek County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Tilton
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Tilton is located in Poweshiek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
- Deep River
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Deep River is located in Poweshiek County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep River
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Van Buren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Selma
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Selma is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Douds
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Douds is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douds
- Leando
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Leando is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leando
- Birmingham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Birmingham is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 423 people
- Kilbourn
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Kilbourn is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilbourn
- Winchester
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Winchester is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchester
- Wapello County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Competine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Competine is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Competine
- Highland Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Highland Center is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Center
- Dahlonega
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dahlonega is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahlonega
- Agency
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Keb ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Keb is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keb
- East Ottumwa
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- East Ottumwa is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ottumwa
- Ottumwa
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Kirkville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Kirkville is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 177 people
- Cliffland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Cliffland is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffland
- Chillicothe
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Chillicothe is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chillicothe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
- Bidwell
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Bidwell is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell
- Dudley
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Dudley is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Rubio
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Rubio is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rubio
- Brighton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Nira
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Nira is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nira
- West Chester
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- West Chester is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Coppock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Coppock is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
- Wellman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Washington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Martinsburg, see our County-by-County Page for Martinsburg.
Cemeteries Near Martinsburg ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Martinsburg.
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 Martinsburg - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Martinsburg covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Martinsburg Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Deuser Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Jones Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Rayburn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hook Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Skinner - McConnell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Competine Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Brooks Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Slagle Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Forrest Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Rock Creek Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (444 more) ...
- Abel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Dickens Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Van Orsdall Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
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 Martinsburg had a population of 322 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Martinsburg had a population of 107 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Martinsburg, with the one closest to Martinsburg listed first.
- Hedrick
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Hedrick is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedrick
- Population from the 2020 Census: 743 people
- Nugent
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Nugent is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nugent
- Competine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Competine is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Competine
- Pekin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Pekin is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pekin
- Hayesville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Hayesville is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
- Highland Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Highland Center is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Center
- Ioka ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Ioka is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ioka
- Abingdon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Abingdon is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abingdon
- Ollie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ollie is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ollie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- Bladensburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Bladensburg is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bladensburg
- Packwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Packwood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
- Fremont
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Dahlonega
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dahlonega is located in Wapello County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahlonega
- Delta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Delta is located in Keokuk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
- Sigourney
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Martinsburg. See our List of 1890's Communities around Martinsburg.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Martinsburg ...
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 112 newspapers that have been published in the area around Martinsburg.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Martinsburg. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Martinsburg and those printed in the larger area surrounding Martinsburg.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Martinsburg.
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 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 Martinsburg:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Keokuk County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Davis County
- Henry County
- Iowa County
- Jefferson County
- Mahaska County
- Monroe County
- Poweshiek County
- Van Buren County
- Wapello County
- Washington County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Iowa
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 Martinsburg, 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- Martinsburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |