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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 Peru (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 Peru. 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 Peru ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Peru was referred to as Peru Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Peru. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Peru.

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 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 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.

Peru is located in Miami County and is the County Seat.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Miami County: Cass, Fulton, Grant, Howard & Wabash.

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

  • Miami County     (The home county of Peru)
  • Carroll County
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • New Waverly
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • New Waverly is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Waverly
    • Hoover
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Onward
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Twelve Mile
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Twelve Mile is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Mile
    • Walton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Galveston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Logansport
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Deacon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Dunkirk
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Dunkirk is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunkirk
    • Verona
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Leases Corner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lucerne
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Lucerne is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucerne
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Middlefork
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Forest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Fulton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Fulton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Disko
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Disko is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Disko
    • Akron
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Athens
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Athens is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
    • Grass Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Grass Creek is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Creek
    • Rochester
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Kewanna
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Kewanna is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kewanna
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 598 people
    • Lake Bruce
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Leiters Ford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Grant County
  • Howard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Cassville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Plevna
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Kokomo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Vermont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Greentown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Judson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Judson is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judson
    • Jerome
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Alto
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Guy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Indian Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Indian Heights is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Heights
    • Hemlock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Hemlock is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
    • Oakford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Huntington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Banquo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Monument City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Andrews
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Harlansburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Mount Etna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Mount Etna is located in Huntington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Etna
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
    • Bippus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Huntington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Kosciusko County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Beaver Dam
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Silver Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Sevastopol
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Claypool
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Burket
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Burket is located in Kosciusko County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burket
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
    • Mentone
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Sidney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sidney is located in Kosciusko County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Madison County
  • Pulaski County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Thornhope
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Star City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Tipton County
  • Wabash County
  • White County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Burnettsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Burnettsville is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnettsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 339 people
    • Idaville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Idaville is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idaville
  • Whitley County

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

Cemeteries Near Peru ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Peru.

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

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

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

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 Peru had a population of 7,028 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Peru had a population of 10,937 people.

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

  • Mexico
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Erie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Erie is located in Miami County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
  • Courter
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Courter is located in Miami County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courter
  • Bunker Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • New Waverly
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • New Waverly is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Waverly
  • Onward
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Loree
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Chili
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Chili is located in Miami County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chili
  • Hoover
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Santa Fe
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Richvalley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Miami
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • McGrawsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • McGrawsville is located in Miami County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGrawsville
    • Pettysville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Perrysburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Perrysburg is located in Miami County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrysburg

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Peru ...

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 85 newspapers that have been published in the area around Peru.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Peru. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Peru and those printed in the larger area surrounding Peru.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4> of Peru.

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 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 Peru:

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