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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 Meservey (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 Meservey. 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 hospitals 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.

Meservey is located in Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo County: Butler, Floyd, Franklin, Hancock, Mitchell, Winnebago, Worth & Wright.

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

  • Cerro Gordo County     (The home county of Meservey)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Thornton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Thornton is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 401 people
    • Swaledale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Swaledale is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swaledale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
    • Ventura
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Burchinal
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Burchinal is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burchinal
    • Rockwell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Clear Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Cameron
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Cameron is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Cartersville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Cartersville is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartersville
    • Mason City Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Mason City Junction is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City Junction
    • Mason City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dougherty
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Dougherty is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dougherty
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Creamery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Creamery is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creamery
    • Portland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Portland is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Aredale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Dumont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bristow
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Bristow is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
  • Floyd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Rockford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Nora Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Aureola
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Aureola is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aureola
    • Marble Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Alexander
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Alexander is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
    • Latimer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sheffield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Sheffield is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,096 people
    • Chapin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Chapin is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapin
    • Coulter
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Coulter is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coulter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Hampton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Reeve
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Reeve is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeve
    • Hansell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Popejoy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Popejoy is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popejoy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
    • Bradford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bradford is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
    • Oakland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Oakland is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
    • Geneva
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Faulkner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Faulkner is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faulkner
  • Hamilton County
    • Williams
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Hancock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Goodell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Goodell is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Klemme
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Garner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Kanawha
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Duncan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Duncan is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
    • Britt
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Britt is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Britt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,928 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Britt <1>
    • Hutchins
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Hutchins is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
    • Corwith
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Corwith is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwith
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
    • Crystal Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Crystal Lake is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
    • Woden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Alden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Iowa Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Humboldt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Renwick
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hardy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Hardy is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
  • Kossuth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Wesley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Wesley is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Lu Verne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Winnebago County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Forest City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Leland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Leland is located in Winnebago County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
  • Worth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Fertile
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Hanlontown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Hanlontown is located in Worth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanlontown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
    • Manly
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meservey, with the one closest to Meservey listed first.
    • Belmond
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Rowan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Olaf
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Olaf is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olaf
    • Cornelia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Cornelia is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornelia
    • Solberg ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Solberg is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solberg
    • Galt
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dows
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Clarion
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Holmes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Holmes is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
    • Goldfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Eagle Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Woolstock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Woolstock is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolstock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people

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

Cemeteries Near Meservey ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Meservey.

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

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

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

  • Meservey Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Holland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Immanuel Reformed Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Richland Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Amsterdam Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Alexander Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Belmond Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmond Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Belmond Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Belmond.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #640620 <3>
  • St. Francis Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Francis Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Francis Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the southeast of Belmond.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #96071 <3>
  • Pleasant Valley Twp. Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hickory Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (148 more) ...
    • Zion Reformed Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shobes Grove Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Simenson Family Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)

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>

While we didn't find Meservey in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Meservey.

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

  • Thornton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Thornton is located in Cerro Gordo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 401 people
  • Alexander
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Alexander is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
  • Goodell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Goodell is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodell
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
  • Belmond
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Swaledale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Swaledale is located in Cerro Gordo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swaledale
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
  • Klemme
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Latimer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Olaf
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Olaf is located in Wright County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olaf
  • Rowan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Chapin
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Chapin is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapin
  • Sheffield
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Sheffield is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,096 people
  • Garner
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Burchinal
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Burchinal is located in Cerro Gordo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burchinal
    • Rockwell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Galt
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Meservey ...

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 119 newspapers that have been published in the area around Meservey.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Meservey, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Meservey.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Meservey:

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' (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- Meservey) 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 Meservey, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.