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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 Browndale (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 Browndale. 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 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.

Browndale is located in Clay County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Clay County: Cloud, Dickinson, Geary, Ottawa, Riley & Washington.

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

  • Clay County     (The home county of Browndale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browndale, with the one closest to Browndale listed first.
    • Idana
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Idana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idana
      • Idana is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Idana
      • From Browndale to Idana
    • Oak Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Morganville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Ladysmith
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ladysmith. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladysmith
      • Ladysmith is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ladysmith
      • From Browndale to Ladysmith
    • Clay Center
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Longford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Vining
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vining have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining
      • Vining is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
    • Broughton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Broughton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broughton
      • Broughton is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Broughton
      • From Browndale to Broughton
    • Garfield Center
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Oscar ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oscar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oscar
      • Oscar is located in Clay County
    • Industry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Green
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Cloud County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browndale, with the one closest to Browndale listed first.
    • Miltonvale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Saint Joseph
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Aurora
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
      • Aurora is located in Cloud County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Ames
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Clyde
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
      • Clyde is located in Cloud County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 647 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <2>
    • Huscher
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Rice
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Cook
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook
      • Cook is located in Cloud County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cook
      • From Browndale to Cook
    • Concordia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Glasco
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glasco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasco
      • Glasco is located in Cloud County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 448 people
      • Former names for Glasco:
      • Dell Ray
      • Glasgow
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glasco <2>
    • Yuma
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yuma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuma
      • Yuma is located in Cloud County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yuma
      • From Browndale to Yuma
    • Macyville ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macyville
      • Macyville is located in Cloud County
  • Dickinson County
  • Geary County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browndale, with the one closest to Browndale listed first.
    • Milford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Alida
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alida. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alida
      • Alida is located in Geary County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alida
      • From Browndale to Alida
  • Ottawa County
  • Republic County
    • Agenda
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Agenda have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agenda
      • Agenda is located in Republic County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
  • Riley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browndale, with the one closest to Browndale listed first.
    • Bala
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Lasita ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasita have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasita
      • Lasita is located in Riley County
    • May Day
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Leonardville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Riley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Walsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Walsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsburg
      • Walsburg is located in Riley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Walsburg
      • From Browndale to Walsburg
    • Winkler
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winkler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkler
      • Winkler is located in Riley County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Winkler
      • From Browndale to Winkler
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browndale, with the one closest to Browndale listed first.
    • Clifton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Palmer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Brantford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brantford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brantford
      • Brantford is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brantford
      • From Browndale to Brantford
    • Kimeo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kimeo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimeo
      • Kimeo is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kimeo
      • From Browndale to Kimeo
    • Linn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chepstow
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chepstow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chepstow
      • Chepstow is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chepstow
      • From Browndale to Chepstow

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

Cemeteries Near Browndale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Browndale.

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 Browndale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Browndale, with the one closest to Browndale 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.<6>

While we didn't find Browndale in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Browndale.

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

  • Idana
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Idana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idana
    • Idana is located in Clay County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Idana
    • From Browndale to Idana
  • Miltonvale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Oak Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Saint Joseph
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Morganville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Aurora
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
    • Aurora is located in Cloud County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
  • Clay Center
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Lamar
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lamar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamar
    • Lamar is located in Ottawa County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Lamar
    • From Browndale to Lamar
  • Longford
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Clifton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Vining
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vining have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining
    • Vining is located in Clay County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Ames
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Broughton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Broughton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broughton
      • Broughton is located in Clay County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Broughton
      • From Browndale to Broughton
    • Clyde
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
      • Clyde is located in Cloud County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 647 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <2>
    • Wells
      (18 miles [29 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 Browndale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Browndale.

Newspapers Published in Browndale ...

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 103 newspapers that have been published in the area around Browndale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Browndale, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Browndale.

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 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 Browndale:

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

The official website for Clay County: www.claycountyks.org/

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Browndale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Browndale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3598, Longitude: -97.3509       In this case, the coordinates for Browndale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Browndale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025