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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 Orwell (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 Orwell. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Orwell is located in Hodgeman County.

To see how the shape of Kansas' counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Hodgeman County: Edwards, Finney, Ford, Gray, Lane, Ness & Pawnee.

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

  • Hodgeman County     (The home county of Orwell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orwell, with the one closest to Orwell listed first.
    • Hanston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanston
      • Hanston is located in Hodgeman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Jetmore
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Edwards County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orwell, with the one closest to Orwell listed first.
    • Offerle
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Offerle
      • Offerle is located in Edwards County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
    • Ardell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ardell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
      • Ardell is located in Edwards County
    • Kinsley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Nettleton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nettleton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleton
      • Nettleton is located in Edwards County
    • Hodges
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hodges. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges
      • Hodges is located in Edwards County
    • Williams ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williams have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams
      • Williams is located in Edwards County
    • Lewis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
      • Lewis is located in Edwards County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewis <1>
    • Centerview
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
      • Centerview is located in Edwards County
  • Ford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orwell, with the one closest to Orwell listed first.
    • Spearville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearville
      • Spearville is located in Ford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
    • Windhorst
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windhorst
      • Windhorst is located in Ford County
    • Windthorst
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windthorst
      • Windthorst is located in Ford County
    • Wright
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
      • Wright is located in Ford County
    • Fort Dodge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Dodge
      • Fort Dodge is located in Ford County
    • Dodge City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilroads Gardens
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads Gardens
      • Wilroads Gardens is located in Ford County
    • Wilroads
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilroads. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads
      • Wilroads is located in Ford County
    • Ford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford
      • Ford is located in Ford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ford <1>
    • Howell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Howell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
      • Howell is located in Ford County
  • Ness County
    • Bazine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bazine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazine
      • Bazine is located in Ness County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
  • Pawnee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Orwell, with the one closest to Orwell listed first.
    • Burdett
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
      • Burdett is located in Pawnee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
    • Rozel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rozel
      • Rozel is located in Pawnee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
    • Garfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Garfield is located in Pawnee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people

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

Cemeteries Near Orwell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orwell.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Saint Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Anthony Parish Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Anthony Parish Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Anthony Parish Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<4> to the northeast of Hanston.
    • The St. Anthony Parish Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Saint Anthony Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93578 <5>
  • Old St. Joseph Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Hanston Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Mennonite Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mennonite Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mennonite Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<4> to the southeast of Hanston.
    • The Mennonite Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hanston Mennonite Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2232616 <5>
  • Silent Land Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silent Land Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silent Land Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairmount Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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 <5>
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Salem Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Browns Grove Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (31 more) ...
    • Hillside Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Holy Cross Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old Kinsley Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Kinsley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Kinsley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<6>

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

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

  • Hanston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanston
    • Hanston is located in Hodgeman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
  • Bellefont
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellefont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefont
    • Bellefont is located in Ford County
  • Gray
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gray have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
    • Gray is located in Hodgeman County
  • Jetmore
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Spearville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearville
    • Spearville is located in Ford County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
  • Offerle
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Offerle
    • Offerle is located in Edwards County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
  • Burdett
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
    • Burdett is located in Pawnee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
  • Kinsley
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Wright
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
    • Wright is located in Ford County
  • Riverside
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverside have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Riverside is located in Ness County
  • Nettleton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nettleton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleton
    • Nettleton is located in Edwards County
  • Rozel
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rozel
    • Rozel is located in Pawnee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Dodge City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilroads
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilroads. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilroads
      • Wilroads is located in Ford County
    • South Dodge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Dodge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dodge
      • South Dodge is located in Ford County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Orwell ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orwell.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Orwell. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Orwell and those printed in the larger area surrounding Orwell.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Orwell.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Orwell:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orwell. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>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- Orwell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orwell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0156, Longitude: -99.7157       In this case, the coordinates for Orwell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Orwell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025