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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 Purcell (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 Purcell. 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 and doctors 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.

Purcell is located in Doniphan 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 Doniphan County: Atchison, Brown, Andrew (MO), Buchanan (MO), Holt (MO) & Richardson (NE).

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

  • Doniphan County     (The home county of Purcell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purcell, with the one closest to Purcell listed first.
    • Denton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Leona
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Leona is located in Doniphan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
    • Severance
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bendena
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Moray
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Moray is located in Doniphan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moray
    • Brenner
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Highland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Doniphan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Petersburgh ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Fanning
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Fanning is located in Doniphan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fanning
    • Sparks
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Sparks is located in Doniphan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks
    • Troy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Iowa Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Atchison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purcell, with the one closest to Purcell listed first.
    • Huron
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lancaster
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Lancaster is located in Atchison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
    • Goodintent ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Goodintent is located in Atchison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodintent
    • Monrovia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Effingham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Farmington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Atchison
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Muscotah
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cummings
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Cummings is located in Atchison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings
    • Arrington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Potter
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Port Williams
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Mills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Brown County
  • Jackson County
  • Jefferson County
  • Leavenworth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purcell, with the one closest to Purcell listed first.
    • Easton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lowemont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Kickapoo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Nemaha County
  • Andrew County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purcell, with the one closest to Purcell listed first.
    • Nodaway
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Amazonia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Amazonia is located in Andrew County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amazonia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 320 people
    • Country Club
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Country Club is located in Andrew County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,530 people
    • Fillmore
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Buchanan County (MO)
  • Holt County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purcell, with the one closest to Purcell listed first.
    • Forbes
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Forest City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Oregon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Fortescue
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Fortescue is located in Holt County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fortescue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28 people
    • Big Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Bigelow
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Bigelow is located in Holt County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
    • New Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Platte County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purcell, with the one closest to Purcell listed first.
    • Sugar Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Iatan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Iatan is located in Platte County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iatan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Weston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Weston is located in Platte County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,834 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weston <1>
  • Richardson County (NE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purcell, with the one closest to Purcell listed first.
    • Rulo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Rulo is located in Richardson County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rulo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rulo <1>
    • Preston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Preston is located in Richardson County (NE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
    • Falls City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Purcell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Purcell.

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

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

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

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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Purcell had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Huron
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Denton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Everest
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Lancaster
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Lancaster is located in Atchison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
  • Severance
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Leona
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Leona is located in Doniphan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leona
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
  • Goodintent ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Goodintent is located in Atchison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodintent
  • Bendena
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Kennekuk
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Kennekuk is located in Atchison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennekuk
  • Shannon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shannon is located in Atchison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon
  • Willis
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Monrovia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Purcell ...

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 168 newspapers that have been published in the area around Purcell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Purcell, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Purcell.

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 Purcell:

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>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 Purcell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Purcell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.