RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kansas >> Stafford County >> Seward >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Kansas

The Commemorative Quarter for Kansas





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 Seward (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 Seward. 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 hospitals and 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.

Seward is located in Stafford 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 Stafford County: Barton, Edwards, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno & Rice.

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

  • Stafford County     (The home county of Seward)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Seward, with the one closest to Seward listed first.
    • Radium
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radium
      • Radium is located in Stafford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
    • Hudson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hudson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
      • Hudson is located in Stafford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
    • Saint John
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint John have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint John
      • Saint John is located in Stafford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,139 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint John <2>
    • Macksville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Stafford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford
      • Stafford is located in Stafford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 920 people
      • Stafford has also been known as:
      • Stafford Center
      • Stafford City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stafford <2>
    • Neola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neola
      • Neola is located in Stafford County
  • Barton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Seward, with the one closest to Seward listed first.
    • Dundee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
      • Dundee is located in Barton County
    • Anchorway
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorway
      • Anchorway is located in Barton County
    • Pawnee Rock
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Great Bend
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Dartmouth
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dartmouth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dartmouth
      • Dartmouth is located in Barton County
    • Ellinwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellinwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellinwood
      • Ellinwood is located in Barton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,932 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ellinwood <2>
    • Heizer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heizer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heizer
      • Heizer is located in Barton County
    • Kanbrick
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kanbrick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanbrick
      • Kanbrick is located in Barton County
    • South Hoisington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Hoisington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hoisington
      • South Hoisington is located in Barton County
    • Albert
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albert have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albert
      • Albert is located in Barton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Albert <2>
    • Boyd ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boyd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Boyd is located in Barton County
    • Hoisington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Olmitz
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Edwards County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Seward, with the one closest to Seward listed first.
    • Belpre
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belpre
      • Belpre is located in Edwards County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
    • Trousdale ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trousdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trousdale
      • Trousdale is located in Edwards County
    • Lewis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Pawnee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Seward, with the one closest to Seward listed first.
    • Ray ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray
      • Ray is located in Pawnee County
    • Larned
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Ash Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash Valley
      • Ash Valley is located in Pawnee County
    • Garfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Garfield is located in Pawnee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
  • Pratt County
    • Byers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Byers have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byers
      • Byers is located in Pratt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
  • Reno County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Seward, with the one closest to Seward listed first.
    • Sylvia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sylvia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvia
      • Sylvia is located in Reno County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
      • Sylvia has also been known as:
      • Anderson's Farm
    • Plevna
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plevna
      • Plevna is located in Reno County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
  • Rice County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Seward, with the one closest to Seward listed first.
    • Raymond
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Raymond is located in Rice County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • Silica
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silica have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silica
      • Silica is located in Rice County
    • Alden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden
      • Alden is located in Rice County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alden <2>
    • Chase
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chase have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase
      • Chase is located in Rice County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 429 people
  • Rush County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Seward, with the one closest to Seward listed first.
    • Otis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otis
      • Otis is located in Rush County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Otis <2>
    • Timken
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timken
      • Timken is located in Rush County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 62 people

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

Newspapers Published in Seward ...

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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Seward.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Seward, 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 Seward.

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 Seward:

Cemeteries Near Seward ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Seward.

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 Seward covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Eden Valley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
  • Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
  • Pt. View Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Peace UCC Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peace UCC Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peace UCC Cemetery
  • Fertig Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salem Cemetery
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Dundee Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dundee Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dundee Valley Cemetery
  • Fairview Park Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Fairview Park Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Saint John.
    • The Fairview Park Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Fairview Memorial Park
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Park Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1330177 <4>
  • Feldhut Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Pawnee Rock Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (65 more) ...
    • Great Bend Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Rockville Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rockville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rockville Cemetery
    • Bergthal Mennonite Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Seward had a population of 100 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Seward had a population of 62 people.

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

  • Hudson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hudson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
    • Hudson is located in Stafford County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
  • Ray ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray
    • Ray is located in Pawnee County
  • Dundee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
    • Dundee is located in Barton County
  • Pawnee Rock
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Saint John
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint John have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint John
    • Saint John is located in Stafford County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,139 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint John <2>
  • Great Bend
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Dillwyn
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dillwyn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillwyn
    • Dillwyn is located in Stafford County
  • Dartmouth
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dartmouth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dartmouth
    • Dartmouth is located in Barton County
  • Ellinwood
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellinwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellinwood
    • Ellinwood is located in Barton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,932 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ellinwood <2>
  • Larned
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Macksville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Heizer
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heizer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heizer
    • Heizer is located in Barton County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Stafford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford
      • Stafford is located in Stafford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 920 people
      • Stafford has also been known as:
      • Stafford Center
      • Stafford City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stafford <2>
    • Raymond
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Raymond is located in Rice County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • Belpre
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belpre
      • Belpre is located in Edwards County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people

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

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

The official website for Stafford County: www.staffordcounty.org/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Seward) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Seward. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1779, Longitude: -98.7942       In this case, the coordinates for Seward have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Seward, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024