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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 Rubens Siding (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 Rubens Siding. 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.

Name Variations for Rubens Siding ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

While the name of this community is Rubens Siding, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Rubens Siding may originally have been Ruben's Siding.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Rubens Siding might be written as Ruben Siding.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Rubens Siding is located in Pocahontas 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 Pocahontas County: Buena Vista, Calhoun, Clay, Humboldt, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Sac & Webster.

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

  • Pocahontas County     (The home county of Rubens Siding)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rubens Siding, with the one closest to Rubens Siding listed first.
    • Rolfe
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Rolfe is located in Pocahontas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolfe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 530 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rolfe <2>
    • Plover
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Plover is located in Pocahontas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
    • Havelock
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Pocahontas
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Palmer
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Laurens
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Varina
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Varina is located in Pocahontas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
    • Fonda
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Fonda is located in Pocahontas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fonda
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fonda <2>
  • Buena Vista County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rubens Siding, with the one closest to Rubens Siding listed first.
    • Albert City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Marathon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Marathon is located in Buena Vista County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marathon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
    • Newell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Newell is located in Buena Vista County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 859 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newell <2>
    • Rembrandt
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Sioux Rapids
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rubens Siding, with the one closest to Rubens Siding listed first.
    • Pomeroy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Manson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Jolley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jolley is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 37 people
    • Twin Lakes
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Twin Lakes is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Knierim
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Knierim is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knierim
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
    • Rockwell City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Lytton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lytton is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lytton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rubens Siding, with the one closest to Rubens Siding listed first.
    • Webb
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Webb is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webb
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Gillett Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Gillett Grove is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillett Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
    • Cornell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Cornell is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
  • Humboldt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rubens Siding, with the one closest to Rubens Siding listed first.
    • Bradgate
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Bradgate is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradgate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Gilmore City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ottosen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Ottosen is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottosen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
    • Bode
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Bode is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bode
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 286 people
    • Rutland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Rutland is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
    • Pioneer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Pioneer is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
    • Arnold
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Arnold is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
    • Humboldt
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Dakota City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Livermore
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Livermore is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
    • Hardy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Hardy is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
    • Thor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Thor is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thor <2>
    • Renwick
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Kossuth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rubens Siding, with the one closest to Rubens Siding listed first.
    • Whittemore
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Whittemore is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittemore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
    • Irvington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Irvington is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvington
    • Algona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Lu Verne
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Fenton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Fenton is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
    • Lone Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sexton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Sexton is located in Kossuth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sexton
  • Palo Alto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rubens Siding, with the one closest to Rubens Siding listed first.
    • Mallard
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • West Bend
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Curlew
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Curlew is located in Palo Alto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curlew
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Rodman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Rodman is located in Palo Alto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
    • Cylinder
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Cylinder is located in Palo Alto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cylinder
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Ayrshire
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Emmetsburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Ruthven
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Graettinger
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Webster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rubens Siding, with the one closest to Rubens Siding listed first.
    • Clare
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Clare is located in Webster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clare
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
    • Barnum
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Barnum is located in Webster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnum
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Badger
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tara
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Tara is located in Webster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tara
    • Moorland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Dodge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Rubens Siding ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rubens Siding.

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 Rubens Siding - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Powhatan Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Clinton - Garfield Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • St. Margarets Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Old Rolfe Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Havelock Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Summit Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Ellington Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Marble Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • McKnight Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Omer - Thorsen Farm Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (146 more) ...
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Lincoln Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Union Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 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.<4>

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

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

  • Rolfe
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Rolfe is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolfe
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 530 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rolfe <2>
  • Plover
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Plover is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plover
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
  • Havelock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Pocahontas
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bradgate
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Bradgate is located in Humboldt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradgate
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
  • Gilmore City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Mallard
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • West Bend
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lizard ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Lizard is located in Pocahontas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lizard
  • Curlew
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Curlew is located in Palo Alto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curlew
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
  • Laurens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Rodman
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Rodman is located in Palo Alto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodman
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Pioneer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Pioneer is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
    • Rutland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Rutland is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
    • Bode
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Bode is located in Humboldt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bode
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 286 people

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

Newspapers Published in Rubens Siding ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rubens Siding.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rubens Siding, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rubens Siding.

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 helpful 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 Rubens Siding:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Rubens Siding, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Rubens Siding) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.