RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Shelby County >> Moweaqua >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Moweaqua (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 Moweaqua. 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 Moweaqua ...

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.

Another variation: Moawequa.

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 doctors and 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.

Moweaqua is primarily located in Shelby County. A portion of Moweaqua extends into Christian County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Shelby County: Christian, Coles, Cumberland, Effingham, Fayette, Macon, Montgomery & Moultrie.

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

  • Shelby County     (The home county of Moweaqua)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moweaqua, with the one closest to Moweaqua listed first.
    • Yantisville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Yantisville is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yantisville
    • Tower Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Findlay
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Shelbyville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakewood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Lakewood is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood
    • Middlesworth
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Middlesworth is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlesworth
    • Oconee
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Windsor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cowden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Herrick
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Fancher
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Fancher is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancher
    • Strasburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moweaqua, with the one closest to Moweaqua listed first.
    • Assumption
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Sandersville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Sandersville is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandersville
    • Stonington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Millersville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Millersville is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
    • Owaneco
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Velma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Velma is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velma
    • Mount Auburn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Grove City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Grove City is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
    • Taylorville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Pana
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Pana is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pana
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,327 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pana <1>
    • Sharpsburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Sharpsburg is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
    • Bolivia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Bolivia is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolivia
  • De Witt County
    • Rowell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Rowell is located in De Witt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowell
  • Douglas County
    • Arthur
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Fayette County
    • Holliday
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Holliday is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holliday
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moweaqua, with the one closest to Moweaqua listed first.
    • Latham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Cornland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Fork
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Mount Pulaski
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moweaqua, with the one closest to Moweaqua listed first.
    • Macon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Blue Mound
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Boody
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Elwin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Hervey City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Hervey City is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hervey City
    • Turpin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Turpin is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turpin
    • Mount Zion
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Harristown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Long Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Long Creek is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,262 people
    • Decatur
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Casner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Casner is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casner
    • Niantic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moweaqua, with the one closest to Moweaqua listed first.
    • Ohlman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wenonah
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Wenonah is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wenonah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Nokomis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Coalton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Coalton is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
    • Witt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Witt is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 833 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Witt <1>
    • White Oak
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • White Oak is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
  • Moultrie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moweaqua, with the one closest to Moweaqua listed first.
    • Dalton City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Bethany
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Dunn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Dunn is located in Moultrie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunn
    • Lake City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake City is located in Moultrie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
    • Cushman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Cushman is located in Moultrie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushman
    • Lovington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Sullivan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Allenville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Allenville is located in Moultrie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
    • Cadwell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Cadwell is located in Moultrie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadwell
    • Coles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Coles is located in Moultrie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles
    • Gays
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Gays is located in Moultrie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gays <1>
  • Piatt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moweaqua, with the one closest to Moweaqua listed first.
    • La Place
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lintner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lintner is located in Piatt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lintner
    • Burrowsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Burrowsville is located in Piatt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrowsville
    • Cerro Gordo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Hammond
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Milmine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Voorhies
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Voorhies is located in Piatt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
  • Sangamon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Moweaqua, with the one closest to Moweaqua listed first.
    • Illiopolis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Mechanicsburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Buffalo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • New City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • New City is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
    • Dawson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rochester
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Pawnee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Buffalo Hart
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Buffalo Hart is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Hart

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

Cemeteries Near Moweaqua ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Moweaqua.

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

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

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

  • Westside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Hayes Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Traughber Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traughber Cemetery
    • The Traughber Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Moweaqua Twp. Cemetery
    • Traughber - Snyder Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108571 <2>
  • Masonic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Jacobs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Ludwig Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Adams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bilyeu Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Long Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Tolley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (291 more) ...
    • Macon Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant View Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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 Moweaqua had a population of 848 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Moweaqua had a population of 1,684 people.

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

  • Radford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Radford is located in Christian County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radford
  • Walker
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Walker is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
  • Macon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Assumption
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Obed
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Obed is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obed
  • Blue Mound
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Stonington
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Yantisville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Yantisville is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yantisville
  • Boody
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Elwin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Dunkel
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Dunkel is located in Christian County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunkel
  • Willeys
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Willeys is located in Christian County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willeys
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Henton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Henton is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henton
    • Hervey City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Hervey City is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hervey City
    • Turpin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Turpin is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turpin

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Moweaqua ...

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 227 newspapers that have been published in the area around Moweaqua.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Moweaqua:

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