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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 Elsmore (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 Elsmore. 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 Elsmore ...

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.

Elsmore has also been known as: Elsinore.

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.

Elsmore is located in Allen 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 Allen County: Anderson, Bourbon, Coffey, Linn, Neosho, Wilson & Woodson.

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

  • Allen County     (The home county of Elsmore)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmore, with the one closest to Elsmore listed first.
    • Savonburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Savonburg is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savonburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Moran
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Leanna
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • La Harpe
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bayard
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Gas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Mildred
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Mildred is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
      • Estimated population in 2019: 23 people
    • Humboldt
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Octagon City ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Bassett
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bassett is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
    • Iola
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Petrolia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Petrolia is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petrolia
  • Anderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmore, with the one closest to Elsmore listed first.
    • Kincaid
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Kincaid is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kincaid
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
    • Lone Elm
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Colony
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Colony is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 424 people
    • Selma
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Welda
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Bush City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Bush City is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush City
  • Bourbon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmore, with the one closest to Elsmore listed first.
    • Porterville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockford ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockford is located in Bourbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
    • Bronson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Petersburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Uniontown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Uniontown is located in Bourbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Redfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Hiattville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Hiattville is located in Bourbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiattville
    • Berlin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Xenia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hollister
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Marmaton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Ronald
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Crawford County
  • Linn County
  • Neosho County
  • Wilson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmore, with the one closest to Elsmore listed first.
    • South Ridge ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • South Ridge is located in Wilson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ridge
    • Vilas
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Rest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Buffalo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Woodson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elsmore, with the one closest to Elsmore listed first.
    • Piqua
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Cookville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • North Ridge ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • North Ridge is located in Woodson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ridge
    • Neosho Falls
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Neosho Falls is located in Woodson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neosho Falls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
    • Athens
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Rose
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Rose is located in Woodson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose
    • Vernon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Durand
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Elsmore ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elsmore.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Elsmore, with the one closest to Elsmore 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Elsmore had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Elsmore had a population of 67 people.

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

  • Savonburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Savonburg is located in Allen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savonburg
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Porterville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Rockford ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockford is located in Bourbon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
  • Stark
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Stark is located in Neosho County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stark
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
  • Odense
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Bronson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Moran
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Kimball
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Kimball is located in Neosho County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimball
  • Leanna
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Uniontown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Uniontown is located in Bourbon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
  • La Harpe
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Walnut
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Hepler
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Hepler is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hepler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
    • Bayard
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Redfield
      (14 miles [22.5 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 Elsmore. See our List of 1890's Communities around Elsmore.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Elsmore ...

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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elsmore.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Elsmore. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Elsmore and those printed in the larger area surrounding Elsmore.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Elsmore.

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 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 Elsmore:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Elsmore) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Elsmore, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.