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 Schaffer (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 Schaffer. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Schaffer 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 Schaffer. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Schaffer:
- Rush County (The home county of Schaffer)
- The following are listed by their distance from Schaffer, with the one closest to Schaffer listed first.
- Otis
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Timken
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Timken is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timken
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62 people
- Bison
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bison is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
- La Crosse
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Rush Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Loretta
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Loretta is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretta
- Former names for Loretta:
- Illinois
- Marienfeld
- Liebenthal
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Liebenthal is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liebenthal
- Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
- Nekoma
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Nekoma is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nekoma
- Hargrave
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Hargrave is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hargrave
- Alexander
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Alexander is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
- Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
- McCracken
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Barton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Schaffer, with the one closest to Schaffer listed first.
- Albert
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Olmitz
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Heizer
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Heizer is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heizer
- Boyd ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Boyd is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
- Galatia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Galatia is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galatia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
- Millard
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Millard is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millard
- Dundee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dundee is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
- Pawnee Rock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Kanbrick
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Kanbrick is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanbrick
- Anchorway
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Anchorway is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorway
- Hoisington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- South Hoisington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- South Hoisington is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hoisington
- Ellis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Schaffer, with the one closest to Schaffer listed first.
- Pfeifer
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Pfeifer is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pfeifer
- Schoenchen
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Schoenchen is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schoenchen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Munjor
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Munjor is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munjor
- Victoria
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Victoria is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,215 people
- Toulon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Toulon is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toulon
- Walker
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Walker is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
- Antonino
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Antonino is located in Ellis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antonino
- Hays
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Pawnee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Schaffer, with the one closest to Schaffer listed first.
- Ash Valley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Ash Valley is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash Valley
- Larned
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Ray ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Ray is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray
- Rozel
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rozel is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rozel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Garfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Garfield is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
- Burdett
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Burdett is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
- Russell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Schaffer, with the one closest to Schaffer listed first.
- Milberger
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Milberger is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milberger
- Gorham
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Balta ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Balta is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balta
- Stafford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Schaffer, with the one closest to Schaffer listed first.
- Radium
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Radium is located in Stafford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radium
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
- Seward
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Seward is located in Stafford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seward
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Schaffer, see our County-by-County Page for Schaffer.
Cemeteries Near Schaffer ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Schaffer.
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 Schaffer - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Schaffer covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Schaffer, with the one closest to Schaffer listed first.
- Albert Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- St. Anthony Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Svatopluk Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Baptist Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bohemian Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Patterson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- St. Anns Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Lone Star Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Everett Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (68 more) ...
- Walnut Valley Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Boyle Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- La Crosse Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
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>
While we didn't find Schaffer in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Schaffer.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Schaffer, with the one closest to Schaffer listed first.
- Albert
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Otis
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Timken
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Timken is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timken
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62 people
- Bison
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bison is located in Rush County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
- Olmitz
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Heizer
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Heizer is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heizer
- La Crosse
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Rush Center
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Ash Valley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Ash Valley is located in Pawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash Valley
- Boyd ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Boyd is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
- Galatia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Galatia is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galatia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
- Pawnee Rock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Dundee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dundee is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
- Millard
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Millard is located in Barton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millard
- Pfeifer
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- 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 Schaffer. See our List of 1890's Communities around Schaffer.
Newspapers Published in Schaffer ...
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 Schaffer.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Schaffer, 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 Schaffer.
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 Schaffer:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Rush County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barton County
- Ellis County
- Pawnee County
- Russell County
- Stafford 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 Schaffer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Schaffer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |