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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 Doniphan (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 Doniphan. 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 Doniphan ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

Another variation: Doniphin.

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

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.

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.

Doniphan is located in Doniphan 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 Doniphan County: Atchison, Brown, Andrew (MO), Buchanan (MO), Holt (MO) & Richardson (NE).

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

  • Doniphan County     (The home county of Doniphan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Petersburgh ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Brenner
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Palermo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Palermo is located in Doniphan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palermo
    • Bendena
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Moray
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Moray is located in Doniphan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moray
    • Blair
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Blair is located in Doniphan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
    • Troy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Wathena
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Denton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Severance
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Fanning
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Fanning is located in Doniphan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fanning
    • Elwood
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Atchison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Atchison
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Goodintent ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Goodintent is located in Atchison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodintent
    • Lancaster
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lancaster is located in Atchison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
    • Port Williams
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Oak Mills
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Farmington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Huron
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Potter
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Cummings
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Cummings is located in Atchison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings
    • Monrovia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Effingham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Muscotah
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Brown County
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Larkinburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Whiting
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Whiting is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiting
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
  • Jefferson County
  • Leavenworth County
  • Andrew County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Country Club
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Country Club is located in Andrew County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,530 people
    • Nodaway
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Amazonia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Amazonia is located in Andrew County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amazonia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
    • Avenue City ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Avenue City is located in Andrew County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avenue City
    • Savannah
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Cosby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cosby is located in Andrew County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cosby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Fillmore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Rochester ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Helena
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Helena is located in Andrew County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Rosendale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Wyeth ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Buchanan County (MO)
  • Clinton County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Gower
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Starfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Trimble
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Trimble is located in Clinton County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 627 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trimble <1>
  • DeKalb County (MO)
    • Clarksdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Clarksdale is located in DeKalb County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
  • Holt County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Forbes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Oregon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Forest City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • New Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Fortescue
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Fortescue is located in Holt County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fortescue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28 people
  • Platte County (MO)

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

Cemeteries Near Doniphan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Doniphan.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan 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 Doniphan had a population of 347 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Rushville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Atchison
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Winthrop
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Winthrop is located in Buchanan County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop
  • Halls
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Halls is located in Buchanan County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls
  • Brenner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Goodintent ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Goodintent is located in Atchison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodintent
  • Kenmoor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Kenmoor is located in Buchanan County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenmoor
  • Palermo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Palermo is located in Doniphan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palermo
  • Bendena
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Dalbey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Dalbey is located in Atchison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalbey
  • Sugar Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • De Kalb
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • De Kalb is located in Buchanan County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Kalb
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Shannon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Shannon is located in Atchison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon
    • Troy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Wathena
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Doniphan ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Doniphan.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Doniphan. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Doniphan and those printed in the larger area surrounding Doniphan.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Doniphan.

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 websites either 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 Doniphan:

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 Doniphan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Doniphan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.