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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 Osceola (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 Osceola. 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.

Osceola is located in Clarke County and is the County Seat.

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 Clarke County: Decatur, Lucas, Madison, Ringgold, Union, Warren & Wayne.

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

  • Clarke County     (The home county of Osceola)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Osceola, with the one closest to Osceola listed first.
    • Lacelle
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodburn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Green Bay ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Liberty
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Weldon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Murray
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Murray is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 681 people
    • Hopeville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Adair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Osceola, with the one closest to Osceola listed first.
    • Hebron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hebron is located in Adair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
    • Zion
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Decatur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Osceola, with the one closest to Osceola listed first.
    • Van Wert
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Le Roy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Grand River
      (18 miles [29 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
    • Decatur City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Decatur City is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Leon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Woodland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Davis City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Lamoni
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Morgan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Lucas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Osceola, with the one closest to Osceola listed first.
    • Lucas
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Derby
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Derby is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
    • Chariton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Williamson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Russell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Madison County
  • Marion County
  • Ringgold County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Osceola, with the one closest to Osceola listed first.
    • Beaconsfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Beaconsfield is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaconsfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
    • Ellston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Ellston is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
    • Tingley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Kellerton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Union County
  • Warren County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Osceola, with the one closest to Osceola listed first.
    • Humeston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Millerton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Millerton is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Allerton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Corydon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hodge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Hodge is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge

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

Cemeteries Near Osceola ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Osceola.

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

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

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

  • Maple Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Union Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cox Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Ellis Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Fremont Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Lewis Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Jamison Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Green Bay Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Twyford Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Green Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Sanders Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Lacelle Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (281 more) ...
    • Chaney Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Hebron Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Horton Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)

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 Osceola had a population of 2,120 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Osceola had a population of 5,285 people.

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

  • Groveland ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Groveland is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
  • Leslie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Leslie is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie
  • Jamison
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jamison is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison
  • Lacelle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Green Bay ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Woodburn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Weldon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Liberty
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Murray
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Murray is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 681 people
  • Smyrna
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Smyrna is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
  • Jay
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jay is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jay
  • New Virginia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • 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 Osceola. See our List of 1890's Communities around Osceola.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Osceola ...

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 91 newspapers that have been published in the area around Osceola.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Osceola:

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 Osceola, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Osceola) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.