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 Bellefont (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 Bellefont. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Bellefont is located in Ford County.
To see how the shape of Kansas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Ford County: Clark, Edwards, Gray, Hodgeman, Kiowa & Meade.
Below are the counties that are near Bellefont. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bellefont:
- Ford County (The home county of Bellefont)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bellefont, with the one closest to Bellefont listed first.
- Spearville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Spearville is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
- Windhorst
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Windhorst is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windhorst
- Windthorst
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Windthorst is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windthorst
- Wright
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Wright is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
- Ford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Wilroads
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Wilroads is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads
- Fort Dodge
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Fort Dodge is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Dodge
- Wilroads Gardens
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Wilroads Gardens is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads Gardens
- Dodge City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Bucklin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bloom
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bloom is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
- Howell
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Howell is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
- Edwards County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bellefont, with the one closest to Bellefont listed first.
- Offerle
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Offerle is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Offerle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
- Ardell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Ardell is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
- Kinsley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Hodges
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Hodges is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges
- Williams ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Williams is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams
- Nettleton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Nettleton is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleton
- Centerview
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Centerview is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
- Lewis
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Fellsburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Fellsburg is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellsburg
- Belpre
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Belpre is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belpre
- Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
- Hodgeman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bellefont, with the one closest to Bellefont listed first.
- Hanston
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Hanston is located in Hodgeman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
- Jetmore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Kiowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bellefont, with the one closest to Bellefont listed first.
- Mullinville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Greensburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Brenham ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Brenham is located in Kiowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenham
- Pawnee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bellefont, with the one closest to Bellefont listed first.
- Burdett
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Burdett is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
- Garfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Garfield is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
- Rozel
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rozel is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rozel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bellefont, see our County-by-County Page for Bellefont.
Cemeteries Near Bellefont ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bellefont.
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 Bellefont - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bellefont covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bellefont, with the one closest to Bellefont listed first.
- Old St. Joseph Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Silent Land Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Pleasant Valley Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Old Kinsley Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Hillside Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- St. Nicholas Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Vale Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (29 more) ...
- Bethel Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Salem Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kansas Veterans' Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
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 Bellefont had a population of 26 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bellefont, with the one closest to Bellefont listed first.
- Spearville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Spearville is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
- Offerle
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Offerle is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Offerle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
- Kinsley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Wright
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Wright is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
- Wilroads
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Wilroads is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads
- Ford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Hanston
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Hanston is located in Hodgeman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
- Gray
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Gray is located in Hodgeman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Jetmore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dodge City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Nettleton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Nettleton is located in Edwards County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleton
- South Dodge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- South Dodge is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dodge
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Bucklin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Mullinville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lewis
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bellefont. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bellefont.
Newspapers Published in Bellefont ...
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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bellefont.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bellefont, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bellefont.
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 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 Bellefont:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Ford County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Edwards County
- Hodgeman County
- Kiowa County
- Pawnee County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bellefont) 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 Bellefont, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |