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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 Walnut City (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 Walnut City. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Walnut City is located in Appanoose 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 Appanoose County: Davis, Lucas, Monroe, Wapello, Wayne, Putnam (MO) & Schuyler (MO).

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

  • Appanoose County     (The home county of Walnut City)
  • Davis County
  • Lucas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Walnut City, with the one closest to Walnut City listed first.
    • Zero
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Russell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Olmitz
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Olmitz is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olmitz
    • Chariton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Williamson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Derby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Derby is located in Lucas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
    • Lucas
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Mahaska County
  • Marion County
  • Monroe County
  • Wapello County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Walnut City, with the one closest to Walnut City listed first.
    • Blakesburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Bidwell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Bidwell is located in Wapello County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell
    • Dudley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chillicothe
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Chillicothe is located in Wapello County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chillicothe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Eddyville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Walnut City, with the one closest to Walnut City listed first.
    • Confidence
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Promise City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Seymour
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Genoa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Corydon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Millerton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Millerton is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Allerton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Hodge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Hodge is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge
    • Clio
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Humeston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Putnam County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Walnut City, with the one closest to Walnut City listed first.
    • Pearl City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Pearl City is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
    • Mendota
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Saint John
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Unionville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Livonia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Livonia is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livonia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Powersville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Powersville is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
    • Worthington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lucerne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lucerne is located in Putnam County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucerne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Schuyler County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Walnut City, with the one closest to Walnut City listed first.
    • Coatsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Coatsville is located in Schuyler County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coatsville
    • Glenwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Glenwood is located in Schuyler County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
    • Lancaster
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Julesburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Walnut City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Walnut City.

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 Walnut City - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Zimmer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Bohm Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Elgin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Shaeffer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Concord Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Garfield Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Philadelphia Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Baker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Forbush Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Haynes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Antioch Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (403 more) ...
    • Fleenor Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cozad Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Felkner Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)

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 Walnut City had a population of 43 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Mystic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Mystic is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
  • Diamond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Diamond is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
  • Brazil
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Garfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Garfield is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
  • Forbush
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Forbush is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbush
  • Maine
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Maine is located in Appanoose County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
  • Iconium
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Plano
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Centerville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jerome
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Numa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Moravia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Walnut City ...

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 162 newspapers that have been published in the area around Walnut City.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Walnut City, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Walnut City.

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 Walnut City:

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