RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Beauregard Parish >> Bancroft >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Bancroft (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 Bancroft. 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 Parishes/Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes/counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home parish. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next parish to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring parishes/counties instead of the parish in which they lived:  their home parish contained property and probate records; the parish to the west contained birth and death records; the parish to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes/counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Bancroft is located in Beauregard Parish.

To see how the shape of Louisiana's parishes may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following parishes adjoin and form the boundaries of Beauregard Parish: Allen, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Vernon & Newton (TX).

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

  • Beauregard Parish     (The home parish of Bancroft)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Merryville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Helme
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Helme is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
    • Singer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Newlin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Newlin is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlin
    • Longville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Ragley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Fayette ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Fayette is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • DeRidder
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Calcasieu Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Dequincy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Starks
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Edgerly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
    • Vinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
    • Sulphur
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jasper County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Call Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Call Junction is located in Jasper County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call Junction
    • Kirbyville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Buna
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Bunker Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Jasper County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
    • Evadale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jasper
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jasper is located in Jasper County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jasper
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,597 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jasper <1>
  • Newton County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Bleakwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bleakwood is located in Newton County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
    • Bon Wier
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Hughes ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Hughes is located in Newton County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
    • Call
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Deweyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Newton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Newton is located in Newton County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,329 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newton <1>
    • Shanklerville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Shanklerville is located in Newton County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanklerville
    • Burkeville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Wiergate
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Orange County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Lemonville ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Lemonville is located in Orange County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemonville
    • Texla
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Texla is located in Orange County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texla
    • Mauriceville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Tyler County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Fred
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Spurger
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Bancroft ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bancroft.

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

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

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

  • Spikes Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Franks Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Belgrade Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Hyatt Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Biloxi Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hughes Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Babe Clark Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babe Clark Cemetery
    • The Babe Clark Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Clark Cemetery
  • Wilson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Meadow Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Burks Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Whitman Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (69 more) ...
    • Carter Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Archie Clark Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archie Clark Cemetery
      • The Archie Clark Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Clark Cemetery
    • Herrin Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)

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.<2>

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

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

  • Belgrade
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Belgrade is located in Newton County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgrade
  • Bleakwood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bleakwood is located in Newton County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
  • Newton
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Newton is located in Newton County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,329 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newton <1>
  • Erin
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Erin is located in Jasper County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
  • Magnolia Springs
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Magnolia Springs is located in Jasper County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Springs
  • Edgerly
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
  • Vinton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
  • Echo
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Echo is located in Orange County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
  • Farrsville
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Farrsville is located in Newton County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrsville

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

Newspapers Published in Bancroft ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bancroft.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Bancroft:

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>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 Bancroft, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bancroft) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.