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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 Stockton (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 Stockton. 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 Stockton ...

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 have occurred.

Prior to its current name of Stockton, it was known as Stocktown.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Stockton is located in Rooks County and is the County Seat.

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 Rooks County: Ellis, Graham, Osborne, Phillips, Russell, Smith & Trego.

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

  • Rooks County     (The home county of Stockton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stockton, with the one closest to Stockton listed first.
    • Woodston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Webster
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Webster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
      • Webster is located in Rooks County
    • Plainville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Zurich
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zurich have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zurich
      • Zurich is located in Rooks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
    • Codell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Damar
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Palco
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Ellis County
    • Turkville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Turkville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkville
      • Turkville is located in Ellis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Turkville
      • From Stockton to Turkville
  • Graham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stockton, with the one closest to Stockton listed first.
    • Nicodemus
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nicodemus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicodemus
      • Nicodemus is located in Graham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nicodemus <1>
    • Bogue
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
      • Bogue is located in Graham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
      • Bogue has also been known as:
      • Wildhorse
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bogue
      • From Stockton to Bogue
    • Roscoe
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Roscoe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
      • Roscoe is located in Graham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Roscoe
      • From Stockton to Roscoe
    • Smithfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Smithfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
      • Smithfield is located in Graham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Smithfield
      • From Stockton to Smithfield
  • Norton County
  • Osborne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stockton, with the one closest to Stockton listed first.
    • Alton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
      • Alton is located in Osborne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
    • Natoma
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natoma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natoma
      • Natoma is located in Osborne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Natoma <1>
    • Bloomington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Osborne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Phillips County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stockton, with the one closest to Stockton listed first.
    • Glade
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Kirwin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Speed
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Speed have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speed
      • Speed is located in Phillips County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Phillipsburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phillipsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
      • Phillipsburg is located in Phillips County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Phillipsburg <1>
    • Logan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Agra
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Stuttgart
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Russell County
    • Paradise
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paradise have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
      • Paradise is located in Russell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
  • Smith County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stockton, with the one closest to Stockton listed first.
    • Claudell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
      • Cedar is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
    • Gaylord
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Kensington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Athol
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Harlan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Stockton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Stockton.

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

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

  • St. Thomas Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Old Stockton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Stockton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Stockton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Hope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hobart Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hobart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hobart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodston Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Survey Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Survey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Survey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Webster Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Webster Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Webster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bow Creek Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bow Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bow Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Twin Mound Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Twin Mound Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Twin Mound Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lockwood Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lockwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lockwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (87 more) ...
    • Ash Rock Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ash Rock Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ash Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Chalk Mound Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chalk Mound Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chalk Mound Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Spring Branch Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Branch Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Branch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Stockton had a population of 880 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Stockton had a population of 1,234 people.

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

  • Webster
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Webster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
    • Webster is located in Rooks County
  • Woodston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Plainville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Laton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laton
    • Laton is located in Rooks County
  • Zurich
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zurich have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zurich
    • Zurich is located in Rooks County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
  • Codell
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Alton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
    • Alton is located in Osborne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
  • Glade
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Damar
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Kirwin
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Nicodemus
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nicodemus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicodemus
    • Nicodemus is located in Graham County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nicodemus <1>
  • Palco
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Natoma
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natoma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natoma
      • Natoma is located in Osborne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Natoma <1>
    • Phillipsburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phillipsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
      • Phillipsburg is located in Phillips County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Phillipsburg <1>
    • Bogue
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
      • Bogue is located in Graham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
      • Bogue has also been known as:
      • Wildhorse
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bogue
      • From Stockton to Bogue

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Stockton ...

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 126 newspapers that have been published in the area around Stockton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Stockton:

The official website for Stockton: www.stocktonkansas.net/

The official website for Rooks County: www.rookscounty.net/

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

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 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.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Stockton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Stockton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4366, Longitude: -99.2694    
<5>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.
<6>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 Stockton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025