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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 Rafetown (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 Rafetown. 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 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.

Rafetown is located in Jasper 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 Jasper County: Clark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, Effingham, Lawrence & Richland.

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

  • Jasper County     (The home county of Rafetown)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • West Liberty
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • West Liberty is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Liberty
    • Sainte Marie
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Willow Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Newton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hunt City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Hunt City is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt City
    • Bogota
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Bogota is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogota
    • Falmouth
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Falmouth is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
    • Lis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Lis is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lis
    • Yale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Rose Hill
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Rose Hill is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Wheeler
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hidalgo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Hogue Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Hogue Town is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogue Town
    • Oak Point
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Oak Point is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Point
    • Melrose
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Melrose is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
    • York
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • York is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
    • Casey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Cumberland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Cumberland is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
    • West Union
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • West Union is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Ingraham
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Sailor Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Camp Travis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Camp Travis is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Travis
    • Clay City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Louisville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Flora
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Landes
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Landes is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landes
    • Green Brier
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Green Brier is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Brier
    • Hardinville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Hardinville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardinville
    • Oblong
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Oil Center
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Oil Center is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil Center
    • Villas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Villas is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villas
    • Stoy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Stoy is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stoy <1>
    • Kibbie ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Kibbie is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibbie
    • Dogwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Dogwood is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood
    • New Hebron
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • New Hebron is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hebron
    • Duncanville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Duncanville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncanville
    • Robinson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Hazel Dell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Hazel Dell is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Dell
    • Walla Walla
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Walla Walla is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walla Walla
    • Jewett
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenup
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Edwards County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Marion
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Marion is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
    • Maple Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Maple Grove is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
    • West Salem
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • West Salem is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Salem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 844 people
    • Bennington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Bennington is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
    • Mills Prairie ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Mills Prairie is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mills Prairie
    • Bone Gap
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Effingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Dieterich
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Montrose
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Montrose is located in Effingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Sumner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bridgeport
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Birds
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Helena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Helena is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Lawrenceville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Petersburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Billett
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Billett is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billett
    • Russellville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Saint Francisville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Richland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Dundas
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Amity
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Amity is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity
    • Claremont
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Olney
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Olney is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olney
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,667 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olney <1>
    • Passport
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Passport is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Passport
    • Wakefield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Wakefield is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakefield
    • Calhoun
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Noble
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Gallagher
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Gallagher is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallagher
    • Berryville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Berryville is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville
    • Parkersburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Wynoose
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Wynoose is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynoose
  • Wabash County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Lancaster
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Lancaster is located in Wabash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
    • Orio
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Orio is located in Wabash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orio
    • Adams Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Adams Corner is located in Wabash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Corner
    • Allendale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Patton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Patton is located in Wabash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patton
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Mount Erie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Enterprise
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Enterprise is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Knox County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Beal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Beal is located in Knox County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beal
    • Vincennes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Busseron
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Busseron is located in Knox County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busseron
    • Oaktown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Sullivan County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rafetown, with the one closest to Rafetown listed first.
    • Merom
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Merom is located in Sullivan County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merom
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Merom <1>
    • Graysville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Graysville is located in Sullivan County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graysville

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

Cemeteries Near Rafetown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rafetown.

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

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

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

  • Dark Bend Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • St. Pauls Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Saron Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Old St. Josephs Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Stoltz Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoltz Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Stoltz Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<2> to the northeast of Olney.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108415 <3>
  • Yager Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Dundas Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Springtown Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Assumption Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Ste. Valentine Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Ste. Marie City Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Berlin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (452 more) ...
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • McBurg Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Goss Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Goss Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<2> to the northeast of Olney.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #105855 <3>

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Rafetown had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Stringtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Stringtown is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
  • Dundas
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • West Liberty
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • West Liberty is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Liberty
  • Sainte Marie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Amity
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Amity is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity
  • Landes
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Landes is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landes
  • Chauncey
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Chauncey is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chauncey
  • Olney
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Olney is located in Richland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olney
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,667 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olney <1>
  • Claremont
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Hardinville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hardinville is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardinville
  • Willow Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Oblong
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Sumner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Newton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Passport
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Passport is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Passport

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

Newspapers Published in Rafetown ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rafetown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rafetown, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rafetown.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Rafetown:

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>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- Rafetown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rafetown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.