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 Benton (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 Benton. 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 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.
Benton is located in Butler 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 Butler County: Chase, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Harvey, Marion, Sedgwick & Sumner.
Below are the counties that are near Benton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Benton:
- Butler County (The home county of Benton)
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Sunset Acres
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sunset Acres is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Acres
- Towanda
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Prairie Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Prairie Village is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
- Andover
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Andover is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,672 people
- Andover has also been known as:
- Cloud City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Andover <1>
- Lorena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Lorena is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorena
- Midian
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Midian is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midian
- Augusta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Brainerd
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Brainerd is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brainerd
- Potwin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Potwin is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
- Whitewater
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Hopkins
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hopkins is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkins
- Salter
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Salter is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salter
- El Dorado
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Chase County
- Wonsevu
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Wonsevu is located in Chase County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonsevu
- Cowley County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Rock
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Udall
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Akron
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Akron is located in Cowley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
- Atlanta
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Harvey County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Annelly
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Annelly is located in Harvey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annelly
- McLains
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- McLains is located in Harvey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLains
- Putnam
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Putnam is located in Harvey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putnam
- Sedgwick
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- McGraw
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- McGraw is located in Harvey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGraw
- Newton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Van Arsdale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Van Arsdale is located in Harvey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Arsdale
- North Newton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Walton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Halstead
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Zimmerdale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Zimmerdale is located in Harvey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zimmerdale
- Hesston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Paxton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Paxton is located in Harvey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paxton
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Burns
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Burns is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns
- Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
- Peabody
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Peabody is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peabody
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,079 people
- Former name for Peabody:
- Coneburgh
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peabody <1>
- Sedgwick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Greenwich
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Greenwich is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich
- Bel Aire
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Kechi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Eastborough
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Eastborough is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastborough
- Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
- Park City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Wichita Heights
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Wichita Heights is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wichita Heights
- Wichita
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Valley Center
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Cow Town
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cow Town is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cow Town
- Derby
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Oatville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Oatville is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oatville
- Maize
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Westlink Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Westlink Village is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlink Village
- Sumner County
- Belle Plaine
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Benton, see our County-by-County Page for Benton.
Cemeteries Near Benton ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Benton.
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 Benton - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Benton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Old Benton Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Benton Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Deem Family Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Indianola Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Union Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Andover Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Greenwich Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kensington Gardens Memorial Centre
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Towanda Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Lorraine Ave. Mennonite Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ascension Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (128 more) ...
- Lutheran Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Lakeview Gardens Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Green Valley Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Benton had a population of 241 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Benton had a population of 865 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Greenwich
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Greenwich is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich
- Towanda
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Andover
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Andover is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,672 people
- Andover has also been known as:
- Cloud City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Andover <1>
- Lorena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Lorena is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorena
- Minneha
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Minneha is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minneha
- Furley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Furley is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furley
- Tolerville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Tolerville is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolerville
- Kechi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Augusta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Potwin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Potwin is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
- Brainerd
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Brainerd is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brainerd
- Sunnydale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sunnydale is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnydale
- Continue List (20 more) ...
- Wichita Heights
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Wichita Heights is located in Sedgwick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wichita Heights
- Whitewater
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Wichita
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Benton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Benton.
Newspapers Published in Benton ...
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 120 newspapers that have been published in the area around Benton.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Benton, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Benton.
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 Benton:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Butler County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Chase County
- Cowley County
- Harvey County
- Marion County
- Sedgwick County
- Sumner 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> | 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 Benton, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Benton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |