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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 Blakeman (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 Blakeman. 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 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.

Blakeman is located in Rawlins 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 Rawlins County: Cheyenne, Decatur, Sherman, Thomas, Dundy (NE), Hitchcock (NE) & Red Willow (NE).

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

  • Rawlins County     (The home county of Blakeman)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blakeman, with the one closest to Blakeman listed first.
    • Atwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Beardsley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
    • Ludell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Ludell is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludell
    • McDonald
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • McDonald is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
    • Herndon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Herndon is located in Rawlins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • Cheyenne County
    • Bird City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Decatur County
    • Traer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Traer is located in Decatur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traer
  • Thomas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blakeman, with the one closest to Blakeman listed first.
    • Gem
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Gem is located in Thomas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Colby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Levant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Levant is located in Thomas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levant
  • Dundy County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blakeman, with the one closest to Blakeman listed first.
    • Max
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Benkelman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Hitchcock County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blakeman, with the one closest to Blakeman listed first.
    • Stratton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Stratton is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 325 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stratton <1>
    • Trenton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Trenton is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trenton <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Blakeman ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blakeman.

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

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

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

  • Blakeman Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Enterprise Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Immaculate Conception Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Cyril Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Chardon Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Hamper Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Mayflower Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (38 more) ...
    • Grace Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • McCabe Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Ilion Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Blakeman had a population of 280 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Atwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Beardsley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Beardsley is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardsley
  • Ludell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Ludell is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludell
  • Chardon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Chardon is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chardon
  • McDonald
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • McDonald is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Achilles
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Achilles is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Achilles
  • Cornell ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cornell is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornell
  • Herndon
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Herndon is located in Rawlins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • Bird City
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Stratton
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Stratton is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 325 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stratton <1>
  • Traer
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Traer is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traer
  • Trenton
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Trenton is located in Hitchcock County (NE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trenton <1>
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Max
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Benkelman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gem
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Gem is located in Thomas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Blakeman ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blakeman.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Blakeman. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Blakeman and those printed in the larger area surrounding Blakeman.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Blakeman.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Blakeman:

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 Blakeman, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blakeman) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.