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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 Thomasville (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 Thomasville. 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 and doctors 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.

Thomasville is located in Clayton 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 Clayton County: Allamakee, Buchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Winneshiek, Crawford (WI) & Grant (WI).

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

  • Clayton County     (The home county of Thomasville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomasville, with the one closest to Thomasville listed first.
    • Volga
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Volga is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volga
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
    • Strawberry Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Osborne
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Osborne is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osborne
    • Mederville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Mederville is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mederville
    • Littleport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Littleport is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleport
    • Elkader
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Wood is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood
    • Elkport
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Elkport is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
    • Gunder
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Gunder is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunder
    • Clayton Center
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Clayton Center is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton Center
    • Saint Olaf
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Garber
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Garber is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garber
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
  • Allamakee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomasville, with the one closest to Thomasville listed first.
    • Postville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Volney
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Volney is located in Allamakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volney
    • Ion
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Ion is located in Allamakee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ion
  • Bremer County
    • Sumner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Buchanan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomasville, with the one closest to Thomasville listed first.
    • Lamont
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Aurora
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Aurora is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
    • Stanley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Stanley is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Hazleton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Winthrop
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Winthrop is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 848 people
    • Doris
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Doris is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doris
    • Fairbank
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Independence
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Monti
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Monti is located in Buchanan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monti
    • Quasqueton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Rowley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Delaware County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomasville, with the one closest to Thomasville listed first.
    • Forestville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Forestville is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
    • Edgewood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Dundee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Greeley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Masonville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Masonville is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masonville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
    • Oneida
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Oneida is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
    • Manchester
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Colesburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Colesburg is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colesburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people
    • Almoral
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Almoral is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almoral
    • Holy Cross
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Holy Cross is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Cross
    • Delaware
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Delaware is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaware
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
    • Petersburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Petersburg is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
  • Dubuque County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomasville, with the one closest to Thomasville listed first.
    • Luxemburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Luxemburg is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luxemburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
    • New Vienna
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • New Vienna is located in Dubuque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Vienna
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 412 people
    • Dyersville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Summit Village Dyersville Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomasville, with the one closest to Thomasville listed first.
    • Arlington
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Arlington is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 393 people
    • Maryville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Maryville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryville
    • Wadena
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Illyria
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Illyria is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illyria
    • Fayette
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Brainard
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Brainard is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brainard
    • Elgin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Maynard
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Clermont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Donnan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Donnan is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnan
    • Randalia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Randalia is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randalia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
    • Oelwein
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Winneshiek County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomasville, with the one closest to Thomasville listed first.
    • Castalia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Castalia is located in Winneshiek County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castalia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
    • Ossian
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Festina
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Frankville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Frankville is located in Winneshiek County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankville
  • Crawford County (WI)
    • Prairie du Chien
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Prairie du Chien is located in Crawford County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Chien
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,531 people
  • Grant County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomasville, with the one closest to Thomasville listed first.
    • Wyalusing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Wyalusing is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyalusing
    • Glen Haven
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Glen Haven is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
    • Bagley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Bagley is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
    • Cassville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Cassville is located in Grant County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 877 people

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

Cemeteries Near Thomasville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thomasville.

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

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

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

  • Reeds Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Sebald Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Rothfusz Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Sacred Heart - Schoolhouse Yard Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Stone School Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Taylorville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Ross Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Arlington Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Strawberry Point Methodist Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Duff Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (309 more) ...

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>

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

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

  • Saint Sebald
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Sebald is located in Clayton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Sebald
  • Volga
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Volga is located in Clayton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volga
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
  • Strawberry Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Osborne
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Osborne is located in Clayton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osborne
  • Wadena
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Mederville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Mederville is located in Clayton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mederville
  • Highland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Highland is located in Clayton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Illyria
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Illyria is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illyria
  • Littleport
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Littleport is located in Clayton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleport
  • Aurora
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Aurora is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
  • Lamont
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Forestville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Forestville is located in Delaware County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Edgewood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Communia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Communia is located in Clayton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Communia
    • Elkader
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Thomasville ...

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 155 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thomasville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thomasville, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thomasville.

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 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 Thomasville:

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 Thomasville, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thomasville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.