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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 Spivey (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 Spivey. 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.

Spivey is located in Kingman 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 Kingman County: Barber, Harper, Pratt, Reno, Sedgwick & Sumner.

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

  • Kingman County     (The home county of Spivey)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spivey, with the one closest to Spivey listed first.
    • Rago
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Rago is located in Kingman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rago
    • Zenda
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Willowdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Alameda
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Adams
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Belmont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Kingman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Nashville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Norwich
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Murdock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Murdock is located in Kingman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock
    • Cunningham
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Cunningham is located in Kingman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cunningham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
    • Penalosa
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Barber County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spivey, with the one closest to Spivey listed first.
    • Sharon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Sharon is located in Barber County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
      • Former name for Sharon:
      • Bible Valley
    • Isabel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Isabel is located in Barber County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Pixley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Medicine Lodge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hazelton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Elm Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Elm Mills is located in Barber County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Mills
    • Gerlane
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mingona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Harper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spivey, with the one closest to Spivey listed first.
    • Duquoin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Harper
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Attica
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Runnymede
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Danville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Crisfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Anthony
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Freeport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ruella
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Ruella is located in Harper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruella
    • Waldron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Waldron is located in Harper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10 people
    • Bluff City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Bluff City is located in Harper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
  • Pratt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spivey, with the one closest to Spivey listed first.
    • Cairo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Sawyer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Preston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Reno County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spivey, with the one closest to Spivey listed first.
    • Lerado
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Pretty Prairie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Jordan Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Turon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Turon is located in Reno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
      • Former name for Turon:
      • Pioneer City
    • Langdon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Castleton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Castleton is located in Reno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castleton
  • Sedgwick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spivey, with the one closest to Spivey listed first.
    • Anness
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Cheney
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Viola
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Garden Plain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Garden Plain is located in Sedgwick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Plain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 912 people
  • Sumner County

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

Cemeteries Near Spivey ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spivey.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Spivey, with the one closest to Spivey 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 Spivey had a population of 2,305 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Spivey had a population of 76 people.

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

  • Rago
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Rago is located in Kingman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rago
  • Duquoin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Zenda
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Cleveland ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cleveland is located in Kingman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
  • Alameda
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Belmont
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Crystal Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Harper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Harper
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Attica
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Runnymede
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Calista ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Calista is located in Kingman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calista
  • Kingman
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Nashville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Norwich
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Murdock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Murdock is located in Kingman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murdock

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Spivey ...

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 141 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spivey.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Spivey. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Spivey and those printed in the larger area surrounding Spivey.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Spivey.

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 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 Spivey:

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 Spivey, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spivey) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.