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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 Harold (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 Harold. 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 doctors and 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.

Harold is located in Ness 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 Ness County: Ellis, Gove, Hodgeman, Lane, Pawnee, Rush & Trego.

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

  • Ness County     (The home county of Harold)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Ness City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Laird
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Laird is located in Ness County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
    • Bazine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Bazine is located in Ness County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazine
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
    • Beeler
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Beeler is located in Ness County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beeler
    • Ransom
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Arnold
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Arnold is located in Ness County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
    • Brownell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Utica
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Finney County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Kalvesta
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Kalvesta is located in Finney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalvesta
    • Ravanna ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Ravanna is located in Finney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravanna
  • Ford County
    • Spearville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Spearville is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
  • Hodgeman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Jetmore
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Hanston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Hanston is located in Hodgeman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
  • Lane County
    • Alamota
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Alamota is located in Lane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamota
  • Pawnee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Burdett
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Burdett is located in Pawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
    • Rozel
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Rozel is located in Pawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rozel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
  • Rush County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harold, with the one closest to Harold listed first.
    • Alexander
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Alexander is located in Rush County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
    • McCracken
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Nekoma
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Nekoma is located in Rush County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nekoma

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

Cemeteries Near Harold ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harold.

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

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

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

  • Kunze Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • St. Ignatius Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Chenoworth Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Mennonite Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mennonite Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mennonite Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the northwest of Hanston.
    • The Mennonite Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hanston Mennonite Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2232616 <2>
  • Kidderville Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Kitterville Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • St. John the Baptist Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Buda Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Fairmount Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Fairmount Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Jetmore.
    • The Fairmount Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Jetmore Cemetery
    • St. Lawrence Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #92407 <2>
  • Continue List   (33 more) ...
    • Hanston Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • St. Anthony Parish Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Anthony Parish Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Anthony Parish Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the southwest of Hanston.
      • The St. Anthony Parish Cemetery has also been known as:
      • St. Anthony Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93578 <2>
    • Crandall Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)

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>

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

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

  • Riverside
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Riverside is located in Ness County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
  • Ness City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Jetmore
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Laird
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Laird is located in Ness County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
  • Hanston
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Hanston is located in Hodgeman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanston
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
  • Gray
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gray is located in Hodgeman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
  • Bazine
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bazine is located in Ness County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazine
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
  • Beeler
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Beeler is located in Ness County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beeler
  • Burdett
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Burdett is located in Pawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
  • Kalvesta
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Kalvesta is located in Finney County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalvesta
  • Alexander
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Alexander is located in Rush County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
  • Alamota
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Alamota is located in Lane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamota
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Ravanna ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Ravanna is located in Finney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravanna
    • Ransom
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Brownell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Harold ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harold.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harold, 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 Harold.

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 Harold:

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 from Point A (ie- Harold) 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 Harold, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.