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 Smiths Ferry (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 Smiths Ferry. 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.
Name Variations for Smiths Ferry ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Smiths Ferry: Smiths Fry. (or less commonly used: Smiths Frry.)
- While the name of this community is Smiths Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Smiths Ferry may originally have been Smith's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Smiths Ferry might be written as Smith Ferry.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Smiths Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Smiths Ferry.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 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.
Smiths Ferry is located in Shawnee 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 Shawnee County: Douglas, Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, Pottawatomie & Wabaunsee.
Below are the counties that are near Smiths Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smiths Ferry:
- Shawnee County (The home county of Smiths Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- Kiro
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Kiro is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiro
- Silver Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Topeka
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Highland Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Highland Park is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
- North Topeka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- North Topeka is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Topeka
- Oakland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Oakland is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Pauline
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Pauline is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauline
- Willard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Willard is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Rossville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cullen Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cullen Village is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullen Village
- Dover
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Auburn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Auburn is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,203 people
- Atchison County
- Arrington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Arrington is located in Atchison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrington
- Arrington has also been known as:
- Arrington Mineral Springs
- Arrington Springs
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- Big Springs
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Big Springs is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
- Grover
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Grover is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
- Stull
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Stull is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stull
- Lecompton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Kanwaka
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Kanwaka is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanwaka
- Kanwaka has also been known as:
- Kanawha
- Kannaka
- Kanwaca
- Clinton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Clinton is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Lone Star
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lone Star is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
- Globe
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Globe is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
- Lawrence
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Midland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Midland is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midland
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- Hoyt
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Delia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Delia is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
- Mayetta
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Birmingham
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Birmingham is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
- Denison
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Holton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Avoca is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Larkinburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Larkinburg is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkinburg
- Circleville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- Grantville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Grantville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Meriden
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Newman
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Newman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newman
- Lake Ridge
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Lake Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ridge
- Hilldale South
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Hilldale South is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale South
- Hilldale
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Hilldale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Rock Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Rock Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Thompsonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Thompsonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
- West Shore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- West Shore is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Shore
- Medina
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Medina is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medina
- Indian Ridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Indian Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Ridge
- Lakeside Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Lakeside Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
- Osage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- Mineral Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Mineral Springs is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Carbondale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Carbondale is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,347 people
- Scranton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Burlingame
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Burlingame is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlingame
- Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
- Former name for Burlingame:
- American Settlement
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burlingame <2>
- Overbrook
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Peterton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Peterton is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterton
- Osage City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Vassar
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Pottawatomie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- Saint Marys
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Emmett
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Belvue
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Belvue is located in Pottawatomie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvue
- Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
- Saint Clere
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Clere is located in Pottawatomie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clere
- Aikins
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Aikins is located in Pottawatomie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aikins
- Wamego
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Louisville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Louisville is located in Pottawatomie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
- Louisville has also been known as:
- Louisville Springs
- Rock City
- Rock Creek Falls
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisville <2>
- Wabaunsee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- Maple Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Vera
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Vera is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vera
- Paxico
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Harveyville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Harveyville is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
- Eskridge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Eskridge is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 502 people
- Wilmington
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Wilmington is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
- McFarland
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- McFarland is located in Wabaunsee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
- Alma
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Smiths Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Smiths Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Smiths Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smiths Ferry.
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 Smiths Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Smiths Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- West Lawn Memorial Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Security Benefit Association Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Mission Center Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Hope Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Hope Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Topeka.
- The Mt. Hope Cemetery has also been known as:
- Fairlawn Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93131 <3>
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Penwell - Gabel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penwell - Gabel Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Penwell - Gabel Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Topeka.
- The Penwell - Gabel Cemetery has also been known as:
- Memorial Park Cemetery
- Pen Well - Gabel Cemetery
- Penwell Gabel Memorial Park
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93016 <3>
- Prairie Home Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Topeka State Hospital Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Valencia Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Elevation Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Silver Lake Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Foster Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (144 more) ...
- Boys Industrial School Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rochester Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Topeka Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topeka Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Topeka Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Topeka.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #93916 <3>
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.<4>
While we didn't find Smiths Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Smiths Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
- Menoken
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Menoken is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menoken
- Silver Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Valencia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Valencia is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valencia
- Topeka
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- North Topeka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- North Topeka is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Topeka
- Pauline
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Pauline is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauline
- Oakland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Oakland is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Elmont
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Elmont is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmont
- Willard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Willard is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Rossville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dover
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Auburn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Auburn is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,203 people
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Tecumseh
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Berryton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Berryton is located in Shawnee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
- Grantville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Grantville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Smiths Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Smiths Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Smiths Ferry ...
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 151 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smiths Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smiths Ferry, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smiths Ferry.
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 Smiths Ferry:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Shawnee County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Atchison County
- Douglas County
- Jackson County
- Jefferson County
- Osage County
- Pottawatomie County
- Wabaunsee County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Smiths Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Smiths Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |