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

Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Williams. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Williams to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Williams, please Contact Us.

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 Williams (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 Williams. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Williams is historic, it would have been located within present day Edwards 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 Edwards County: Ford, Hodgeman, Kiowa, Pawnee, Pratt & Stafford.

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

  • Edwards County     (The home county of Williams)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Hodges
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Hodges is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges
    • Centerview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Centerview is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
    • Fellsburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Fellsburg is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellsburg
    • Kinsley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lewis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ardell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Ardell is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
    • Nettleton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Nettleton is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleton
    • Trousdale ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Trousdale is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trousdale
    • Offerle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Offerle is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Offerle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
    • Belpre
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Belpre is located in Edwards County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belpre
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
  • Ford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Windhorst
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Windhorst is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windhorst
    • Windthorst
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Windthorst is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windthorst
    • Spearville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Spearville is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
    • Bucklin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Ford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wright
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Wright is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
  • Hodgeman County
    • Hanston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Hanston is located in Hodgeman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
  • Kiowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Greensburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Brenham ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Brenham is located in Kiowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenham
    • Mullinville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Haviland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Wellsford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
    • Belvidere
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Belvidere is located in Kiowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
  • Pawnee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Garfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Garfield is located in Pawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
    • Rozel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Rozel is located in Pawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rozel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
    • Burdett
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Burdett is located in Pawnee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 219 people
    • Larned
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Pratt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Byers
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Byers is located in Pratt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byers
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
    • Cullison
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cullison is located in Pratt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullison
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
  • Stafford County
    • Macksville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Williams ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williams.

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

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

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

  • Trotter Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Fellsburg Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • St. Nicholas Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Kinsley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayne Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • McKinley Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Lutheran Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Belpre Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belpre Cemetery
    • The Belpre Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Bernards Catholic Cemetery
  • Continue List   (37 more) ...
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Salem Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Providence Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)

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.

While we didn't find Williams in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Williams.

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

  • Fellsburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Fellsburg is located in Edwards County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellsburg
  • Kinsley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Lewis
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Nettleton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Nettleton is located in Edwards County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleton
  • Offerle
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Offerle is located in Edwards County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Offerle
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
  • Greensburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Brenham ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Brenham is located in Kiowa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenham
  • Belpre
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Belpre is located in Edwards County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belpre
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
  • Mullinville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Haviland
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Garfield
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Garfield is located in Pawnee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
  • Bellefont
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Bellefont is located in Ford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefont
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Wellsford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wellsford is located in Kiowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsford
    • Macksville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Spearville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Spearville is located in Ford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spearville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people

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

Newspapers Published in Williams ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williams.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Williams, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Williams.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Williams:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Williams, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Williams) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.