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 Keene (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 Keene. 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 and hospitals 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.
Keene is located in Wabaunsee 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 Wabaunsee County: Geary, Lyon, Morris, Osage, Pottawatomie, Riley & Shawnee.
Below are the counties that are near Keene. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Keene:
- Wabaunsee County (The home county of Keene)
- The following are listed by their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Eskridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Eskridge is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 502 people
- Maple Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Vera
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Vera is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vera
- Paxico
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- McFarland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- McFarland is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
- Harveyville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Harveyville is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
- Alma
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Wilmington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Wilmington is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
- Alta Vista
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Douglas County
- Big Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Big Springs is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Delia
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Delia is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
- Hoyt
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Grantville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Grantville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Meriden
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lyon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Admire
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Allen
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Allen is located in Lyon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
- Miller
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Miller is located in Lyon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller
- Agnes City ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Agnes City is located in Lyon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnes City
- Bushong
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bushong is located in Lyon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushong
- Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
- Reading
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Morris County
- Dwight
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Dwight is located in Morris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
- Population from the 2020 Census: 255 people
- Osage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Burlingame
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Burlingame is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlingame
- Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
- Former name for Burlingame:
- American Settlement
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burlingame <1>
- Mineral Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Mineral Springs is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Carbondale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Carbondale is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,347 people
- Scranton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Peterton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Peterton is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterton
- Osage City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Barclay
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Barclay is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barclay
- Overbrook
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lyndon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pottawatomie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Saint Marys
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Belvue
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Belvue is located in Pottawatomie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvue
- Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
- Wamego
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Emmett
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Louisville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Louisville is located in Pottawatomie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
- Louisville has also been known as:
- Louisville Springs
- Rock City
- Rock Creek Falls
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisville <1>
- Saint George
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Aikins
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Aikins is located in Pottawatomie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aikins
- Saint Clere
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Saint Clere is located in Pottawatomie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clere
- Riley County
- The following are listed by their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Pillsbury Crossing ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Pillsbury Crossing is located in Riley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury Crossing
- Zeandale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Zeandale is located in Riley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zeandale
- Shawnee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Dover
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Willard
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Willard is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Auburn
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Auburn is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,203 people
- Rossville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Silver Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Kiro
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kiro is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiro
- Cullen Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Cullen Village is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullen Village
- Pauline
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Pauline is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauline
- Highland Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Highland Park is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
- Topeka
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Berryton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Berryton is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
- North Topeka
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- North Topeka is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Topeka
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Keene, see our County-by-County Page for Keene.
Cemeteries Near Keene ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Keene.
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 Keene - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Keene covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Keene Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Mission View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Dover Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Freeman Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Eskridge Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Kuenzli Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Bethlehem Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Swedish Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Nehring Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- St. Bartholomew Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Troemper Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Kaeckell Family Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (131 more) ...
- Valencia Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Uniontown Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Auburn Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Keene had a population of 52 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Keene, with the one closest to Keene listed first.
- Dover
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Eskridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Eskridge is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 502 people
- Vera
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Vera is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vera
- Maple Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Bradford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Bradford is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
- Willard
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Willard is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Paxico
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Harveyville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Harveyville is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
- Auburn
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Auburn is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,203 people
- Valencia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Valencia is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valencia
- McFarland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- McFarland is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
- Silver Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Rossville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Alma
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Wilmington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Wilmington is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Keene. See our List of 1890's Communities around Keene.
Newspapers Published in Keene ...
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 399 newspapers that have been published in the area around Keene.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Keene, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Keene.
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 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 Keene:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Wabaunsee County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Douglas County
- Jackson County
- Jefferson County
- Lyon County
- Morris County
- Osage County
- Pottawatomie County
- Riley County
- Shawnee County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
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> | 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- Keene) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Keene, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |