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 McCracken (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 McCracken. 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 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.
McCracken is located in Rush 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 Rush County: Barton, Ellis, Ness, Pawnee, Russell & Trego.
Below are the counties that are near McCracken. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to McCracken:
- Rush County (The home county of McCracken)
- The following are listed by their distance from McCracken, with the one closest to McCracken listed first.
- Hargrave
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hargrave is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hargrave
- Alexander
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Alexander is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
- Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
- Nekoma
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Nekoma is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nekoma
- La Crosse
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Liebenthal
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Liebenthal is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liebenthal
- Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
- Rush Center
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bison
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bison is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
- Loretta
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Loretta is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretta
- Former names for Loretta:
- Illinois
- Marienfeld
- Timken
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Timken is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timken
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62 people
- Otis
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Ellis County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCracken, with the one closest to McCracken listed first.
- Schoenchen
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Schoenchen is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schoenchen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Antonino
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Antonino is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antonino
- Munjor
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Munjor is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munjor
- Pfeifer
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Pfeifer is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pfeifer
- Hog Back
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Hog Back is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hog Back
- Yocemento
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Yocemento is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yocemento
- Ellis
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Hays
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Toulon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Toulon is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toulon
- Victoria
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Victoria is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,215 people
- Catharine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Catharine is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catharine
- Catharine has also been known as:
- Catherine
- Ness County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCracken, with the one closest to McCracken listed first.
- Brownell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Bazine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bazine is located in Ness County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazine
- Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
- Ransom
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Ness City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Arnold
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Arnold is located in Ness County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Laird
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Laird is located in Ness County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
- Pawnee County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCracken, with the one closest to McCracken listed first.
- Burdett
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Burdett is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
- Ash Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ash Valley is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash Valley
- Rozel
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Rozel is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rozel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Trego County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCracken, with the one closest to McCracken listed first.
- Trego
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Trego is located in Trego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trego
- Trego has also been known as:
- Trego Center
- Trego Tank
- Ogallah
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Ogallah is located in Trego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogallah
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to McCracken, see our County-by-County Page for McCracken.
Cemeteries Near McCracken ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McCracken.
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 McCracken - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for McCracken covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from McCracken, with the one closest to McCracken listed first.
- McCracken Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Ramsey Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- St. Mary's Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Hampton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Nickel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hall Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Belle Prairie Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Abbey Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Cordial Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bazine Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazine Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Bazine Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the north of Bazine.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91994 <2>
- Union Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Friends Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (53 more) ...
- Brownwell Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Vansburgh Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 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 McCracken had a population of 281 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, McCracken had a population of 171 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from McCracken, with the one closest to McCracken listed first.
- Hargrave
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hargrave is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hargrave
- Alexander
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Alexander is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
- Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
- Nekoma
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Nekoma is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nekoma
- Brownell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Bazine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bazine is located in Ness County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazine
- Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
- La Crosse
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Liebenthal
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Liebenthal is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liebenthal
- Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
- Rush Center
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ransom
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Ness City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bison
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bison is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
- Timken
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Timken is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timken
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62 people
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Munjor
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Munjor is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munjor
- Riverside
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Riverside is located in Ness County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Pfeifer
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Pfeifer is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pfeifer
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around McCracken. See our List of 1890's Communities around McCracken.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of McCracken ...
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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around McCracken.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of McCracken. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of McCracken and those printed in the larger area surrounding McCracken.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of McCracken.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 McCracken:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Rush County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Ellis County
- Ness County
- Pawnee County
- Trego 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> | 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McCracken) 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 McCracken, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |