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 O'Brien (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 O'Brien. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.
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 north 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.
O'Brien is located in Miami 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 Miami County: Anderson, Douglas, Franklin, Johnson, Linn, Bates (MO) & Cass (MO).
Below are the counties that are near O'Brien. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to O'Brien:
- Miami County (The home county of O'Brien)
- The following are listed by their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Stanton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Stanton is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
- Osawatomie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Paola
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Block
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Block is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Block
- Fontana
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Fontana is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 242 people
- Hillsdale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hillsdale is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Somerset
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- New Lancaster
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- New Lancaster is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lancaster
- Chiles
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Chiles is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chiles
- Jingo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Jingo is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jingo
- Louisburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Louisburg is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,590 people
- Former name for Louisburg:
- New Saint Lewis
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisburg <1>
- Bucyrus
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bucyrus is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucyrus
- Anderson County
- The following are listed by their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Greeley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Scipio
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Scipio is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scipio
- Garnett
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bush City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Bush City is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush City
- Glenlock
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Glenlock is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenlock
- Central City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Central City is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- Former name for Central City:
- Jerome
- Central City has also been known as:
- Central
- Harris
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Harris is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
- Selma
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Selma is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Mont Ida
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Mont Ida is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mont Ida
- Welda
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Welda is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welda
- Kincaid
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Kincaid is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kincaid
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
- Coffey County
- Agricola
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Agricola is located in Coffey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agricola
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Black Jack ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Black Jack is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack
- Baldwin City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Clearfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Clearfield is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearfield
- Vinland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Vinland is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinland
- Worden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Worden is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worden
- Hesper
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Hesper is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesper
- Pleasant Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Sibleyville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Sibleyville is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibleyville
- Globe
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Globe is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
- Eudora
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Lone Star
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lone Star is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Rantoul
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rantoul is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rantoul
- Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
- Lane
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lane is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Lane has also been known as:
- Lane City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <1>
- Imes
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Imes is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imes
- Peoria
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Peoria is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoria
- B N Junction
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- B N Junction is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for B N Junction
- Princeton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Wellsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Le Loup
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Le Loup is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Loup
- Ottawa
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Richmond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ottawa Junction
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ottawa Junction is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottawa Junction
- Norwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Norwood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Edgerton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Spring Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Hill is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,871 people
- Spring Hill has also been known as:
- Spring Hill Station
- Springfield
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Hill <1>
- Gardner
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Clare
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Clare is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clare
- Stilwell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Stilwell is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stilwell
- Olathe
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Clearview City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Clearview City is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview City
- Linn County
- The following are listed by their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Parker
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Parker is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Cadmus
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Cadmus is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadmus
- Goodrich
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Goodrich is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodrich
- La Cygne
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Linn Valley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Linn Valley is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 876 people
- Centerville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Centerville is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Boicourt
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Boicourt is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boicourt
- Critzer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Critzer is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Critzer
- Mound City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasanton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Blue Mound
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Osage County
- Quenemo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Quenemo is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quenemo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
- Quenemo has also been known as:
- Quenemo Agency
- Bates County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Drexel
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Merwin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Merwin is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
- Amsterdam
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Amoret
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Amoret is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amoret
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Burdett
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Burdett is located in Bates County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
- Cass County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- West Line
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- West Line is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 108 people
- Cleveland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cleveland is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 668 people
- Freeman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Lake Annette
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Lake Annette is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Annette
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
- Main City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Main City is located in Cass County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Main City
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to O'Brien, see our County-by-County Page for O'Brien.
Cemeteries Near O'Brien ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of O'Brien.
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 O'Brien - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for O'Brien covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Indianapolis Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Stanton Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Green Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Brown Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lessenden Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Elmdale Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Mannen Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Needham Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lane Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Grove Quaker Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Osawatomie State Hospital Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (194 more) ...
- Miami Memorial Gardens Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Osawatomie Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- New Hope Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, O'Brien had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from O'Brien, with the one closest to O'Brien listed first.
- Stanton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Stanton is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
- Osawatomie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Rantoul
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rantoul is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rantoul
- Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
- Lane
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lane is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Lane has also been known as:
- Lane City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <1>
- Beagle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Beagle is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beagle
- Peoria
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Peoria is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoria
- Imes
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Imes is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imes
- Paola
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Greeley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fontana
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Fontana is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 242 people
- Block
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Block is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Block
- Parker
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Parker is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Cadmus
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Cadmus is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadmus
- Princeton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Wellsville
(14 miles [22.5 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 O'Brien. See our List of 1890's Communities around O'Brien.
Newspapers Published in O'Brien ...
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 89 newspapers that have been published in the area around O'Brien.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of O'Brien, 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 O'Brien.
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 professional and volunteer 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 O'Brien:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Miami County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Anderson County
- Coffey County
- Douglas County
- Franklin County
- Johnson County
- Linn County
- Osage County
- Bates County
- Cass 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> | 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 O'Brien, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- O'Brien) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |