RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Indiana >> Lawrence County >> Fort Ritner >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Indiana

The Commemorative Quarter for Indiana





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 Fort Ritner (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 Fort Ritner. 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 Fort Ritner ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Fort Ritner: Ft. Ritner

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Fort Ritner is located in Lawrence County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lawrence County: Greene, Jackson, Martin, Monroe, Orange & Washington.

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

  • Lawrence County     (The home county of Fort Ritner)
  • Bartholomew County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Ritner, with the one closest to Fort Ritner listed first.
    • Jonesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
      • Jonesville is located in Bartholomew County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jonesville <3>
    • North Ogilville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Brown County
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Ritner, with the one closest to Fort Ritner listed first.
    • Borden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • New Providence
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Providence came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Providence
      • New Providence is located in Clark County
    • Underwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underwood
      • Underwood is located in Clark County
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Ritner, with the one closest to Fort Ritner listed first.
    • Marengo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marengo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
      • Marengo is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 808 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marengo <3>
    • Milltown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Dubois County
  • Greene County
  • Harrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Ritner, with the one closest to Fort Ritner listed first.
    • Palmyra
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmyra have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmyra
      • Palmyra is located in Harrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 958 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmyra <3>
    • Depauw
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Bradford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jackson County
  • Martin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Ritner, with the one closest to Fort Ritner listed first.
    • Mount Olive
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Lacy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Shoals
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shoals have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoals
      • Shoals is located in Martin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 781 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shoals <3>
  • Monroe County
  • Orange County
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Ritner, with the one closest to Fort Ritner listed first.
    • Austin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Marshfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Scottsburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scottsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottsburg
      • Scottsburg is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,703 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scottsburg <3>
    • Albion
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Ritner, with the one closest to Fort Ritner listed first.
    • Saltillo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saltillo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltillo
      • Saltillo is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
    • Campbellsburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Plattsburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Claysville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Smedley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Smedley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smedley
      • Smedley is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Smedley
      • From Fort Ritner to Smedley
    • Kossuth
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kossuth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kossuth
      • Kossuth is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kossuth
      • From Fort Ritner to Kossuth
    • Livonia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Livonia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livonia
      • Livonia is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
    • Salem
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Harristown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Little York
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little York have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little York
      • Little York is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • South Boston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hardinsburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • New Pekin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Pekin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Pekin
      • New Pekin is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,392 people

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

Cemeteries Near Fort Ritner ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fort Ritner.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Brown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brown Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dodd Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dodd Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dodd Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thompson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stewart Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stewart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stewart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Talbott Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Talbott Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Talbott Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pollock Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pollock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pollock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shoemaker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shoemaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shoemaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hinderlider Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hinderlider Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hinderlider Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wheeler Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wheeler Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wheeler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lanning Sput Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lanning Sput Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lanning Sput Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (310 more) ...
    • Holmes Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holmes Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holmes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sherril Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sherril Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sherril Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Starr Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Starr Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Starr Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fort Ritner had a population of 133 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Sparksville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparksville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparksville
    • Sparksville is located in Jackson County
  • Bono
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bono. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bono
    • Bono is located in Lawrence County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bono
    • From Fort Ritner to Bono
  • Tunnelton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tunnelton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelton
    • Tunnelton is located in Lawrence County
  • Leesville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Medora
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Leipsic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Campbellsburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Rush Creek Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rush Creek Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush Creek Valley
    • Rush Creek Valley is located in Washington County
  • Millport
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millport
    • Millport is located in Washington County
  • Erie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Erie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
    • Erie is located in Lawrence County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Erie
    • From Fort Ritner to Erie
  • Mitchell
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Claysville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Fort Ritner ...

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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Ritner.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fort Ritner, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fort Ritner.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Fort Ritner:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Ritner. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<5>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 Fort Ritner, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fort Ritner) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Ritner. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7735, Longitude: -86.2809    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025