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 Valley Mission (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 Valley Mission. 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 and hospitals 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.
Valley Mission is located in Union 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 Union County: Alexander, Jackson, Johnson, Pulaski, Williamson, Cape Girardeau (MO) & Perry (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Valley Mission. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Valley Mission:
- Union County (The home county of Valley Mission)
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Reynoldsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Reynoldsville is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynoldsville
- Mill Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Mill Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
- Dutch Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Dutch Mills is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Mills
- Jonesboro
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Anna
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Dongola
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Wolf Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cobden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Alto Pass
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Mount Pleasant
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Water Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Water Valley is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Lick Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Lick Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek
- Alexander County
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Elco
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- McClure
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Diswood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Diswood is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diswood
- Tamms
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- East Cape Girardeau
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- East Cape Girardeau is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cape Girardeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Thebes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Thebes is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thebes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Olive Branch
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Hodges Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Hodges Park is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges Park
- Unity
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Miller City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Cache
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Frog City ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Frog City is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog City
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Pomona
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Makanda
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Grand Tower
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Carbondale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Gorham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Jacob
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Murphysboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Cypress
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Buncombe
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Belknap
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Bender ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Bender is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bender
- Vienna
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Goreville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Deer Ridge
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Deer Ridge is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Ridge
- Eagle Point Bay
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Eagle Point Bay is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Point Bay
- Egyptian Hills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Egyptian Hills is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egyptian Hills
- Wartrace
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Wartrace is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wartrace
- Massac County
- Joppa
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pulaski County
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Ullin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pulaski
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Perks
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Villa Ridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Villa Ridge is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Ridge
- Grand Chain
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Mounds
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Mounds is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mounds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 666 people
- Olmsted
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- New Grand Chain
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- New Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Grand Chain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Karnak
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Mound City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Williamson County
- Lake Crest
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Crest is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Crest
- Ballard County (KY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Bandana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bandana is located in Ballard County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bandana
- Barlow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Barlow is located in Ballard County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barlow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 628 people
- La Center
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Wickliffe
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- McCracken County (KY)
- Ragland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ragland is located in McCracken County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragland
- Bollinger County (MO)
- Laflin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Laflin is located in Bollinger County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Cape Girardeau
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Leemon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Leemon is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leemon
- Jackson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Jackson is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,699 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
- Gordonville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Pocahontas
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dutchtown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Dutchtown is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
- Estimated population in 2018: 94 people
- Shawneetown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Shawneetown is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawneetown
- Oak Ridge
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Allenville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Allenville is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
- Delta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Delta is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Delta <1>
- Burfordville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Millersville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Mississippi County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Greenfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Greenfield is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Wyatt
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Wyatt is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Charleston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Charleston is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,015 people
- Wilson City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Wilson City is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Perry County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Altenburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Frohna
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Frohna is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frohna
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Brazeau
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Brazeau is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazeau
- Uniontown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Uniontown is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Farrar
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Farrar is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrar
- Scott County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Scott City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Commerce
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Kelso
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Benton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Chaffee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lambert
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lambert is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert
- Population from the 2010 Census: 34 people
- New Hamburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- New Hamburg is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hamburg
- Caney Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Caney Creek is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney Creek
- Oran
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Oran is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oran <1>
- Blodgett
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Blodgett is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
- Morley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Morley is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
- Haywood City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Haywood City is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Valley Mission, see our County-by-County Page for Valley Mission.
Cemeteries Near Valley Mission ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Valley Mission.
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 Valley Mission - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Valley Mission covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Cummins Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Lindsay Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Phillips Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Kollehner Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- McClure Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- McCrite Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Sims Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Grieb Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Palmer Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Honey Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mission Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Kimmel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (415 more) ...
- Provo Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Union Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Miller Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<2>
While we didn't find Valley Mission in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Valley Mission.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Valley Mission, with the one closest to Valley Mission listed first.
- Mill Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Mill Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
- Springville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Springville is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
- McClure
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Elco
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Ware
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ware is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ware
- Jonesboro
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Egypt Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Egypt Mills is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt Mills
- Balcom
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Balcom is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balcom
- Anna
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- East Cape Girardeau
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- East Cape Girardeau is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cape Girardeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Wetaug
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Wetaug is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetaug
- Dongola
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Ullin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cape Girardeau
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Thebes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Thebes is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thebes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Valley Mission. See our List of 1890's Communities around Valley Mission.
Newspapers Published in Valley Mission ...
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 108 newspapers that have been published in the area around Valley Mission.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Valley Mission, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Valley Mission.
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 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 Valley Mission:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Union County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alexander County
- Jackson County
- Johnson County
- Massac County
- Pulaski County
- Williamson County
- Ballard County
- McCracken County
- Bollinger County
- Cape Girardeau County
- Mississippi County
- Perry County
- Scott County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Illinois
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> | 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 Valley Mission, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- Valley Mission) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |