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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 Renault (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 Renault. 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.

Renault is located in Monroe 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 Monroe County: Randolph, Saint Clair, Jefferson (MO), Saint Louis (MO) & Sainte Genevieve (MO).

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

  • Monroe County     (The home county of Renault)
  • Randolph County
  • Saint Clair County
  • Washington County
  • Jefferson County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Renault, with the one closest to Renault listed first.
    • Crystal City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Herculaneum
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Festus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Horine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Horine is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horine
    • Pevely
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Pevely is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pevely
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,001 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pevely <1>
    • Flucom
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Olympian Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Olympian Village is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olympian Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 752 people
    • Knorpp
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Barnhart
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Imperial
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Kimmswick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Hematite
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Hematite is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hematite
    • Mapaville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Mapaville is located in Jefferson County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapaville
  • Perry County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Renault, with the one closest to Renault listed first.
    • Lithium
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Lithium is located in Perry County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithium
    • McBride
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sereno
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Saint Francois County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Renault, with the one closest to Renault listed first.
    • French Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Silver Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonne Terre
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Blackwell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Cantwell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Desloge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Desloge is located in Saint Francois County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desloge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,900 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Desloge <1>
    • Esther
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Esther is located in Saint Francois County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esther
    • Settletown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Flat River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Flat River is located in Saint Francois County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat River
    • Leadington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Leadington is located in Saint Francois County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leadington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 600 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leadington <1>
    • Elvins
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Elvins is located in Saint Francois County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elvins
    • Farmington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Park Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Park Hills is located in Saint Francois County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,506 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Park Hills <1>
  • Saint Louis City (MO)
  • Saint Louis County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Renault, with the one closest to Renault listed first.
    • Oakville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Mattese
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Mattese is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattese
    • Ivory
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Ivory is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory
    • Mehlville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Mehlville is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mehlville
    • Lemay
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Green Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Green Park is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,614 people
    • Bella Villa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Bella Villa is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bella Villa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 721 people
    • Saint George
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Saint George is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
      • Estimated population in 2011: 1,336 people
    • Concord
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Concord is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
    • Lakeshire
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakeshire is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeshire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,385 people
    • Affton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Grantwood Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Grantwood Village is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantwood Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 855 people
    • Sappington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
  • Washington County (MO)
    • Tiff
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Tiff is located in Washington County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiff

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

Cemeteries Near Renault ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Renault.

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

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

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

  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Studt Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Rebenack Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Grant Pass Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Dick Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Nelson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • St. Peter Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (387 more) ...
    • St. Johns Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Burksville Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • St. John Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)

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 in 1895, Renault had a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Renault ...

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 137 newspapers that have been published in the area around Renault.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Renault, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Renault.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Renault:

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 Renault, 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- Renault) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.