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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 Birch Tree (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 Birch Tree. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Birch Tree is located in Shannon County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Shannon County: Carter, Dent, Howell, Oregon, Reynolds & Texas.

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

  • Shannon County     (The home county of Birch Tree)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Birch Tree, with the one closest to Birch Tree listed first.
    • Montier
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Montier is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montier
    • Winona
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Alley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Alley is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alley
    • Eminence
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Round Spring
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Round Spring is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Spring
    • Akers
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Akers is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akers
  • Carter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Birch Tree, with the one closest to Birch Tree listed first.
    • Fremont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Fremont is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
    • Chicopee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Chicopee is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicopee
    • Van Buren
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Howell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Birch Tree, with the one closest to Birch Tree listed first.
    • Mountain View
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Peace Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Peace Valley is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Valley
    • Pomona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Pomona is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomona
    • Brandsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Brandsville is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
    • Chapin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Chapin is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapin
    • Burnham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Burnham is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnham
    • Willow Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • West Plains
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sterling ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Sterling is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
  • Oregon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Birch Tree, with the one closest to Birch Tree listed first.
    • Thomasville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Thomasville is located in Oregon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomasville
    • Woodside
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Woodside is located in Oregon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
    • Alton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Couch
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Koshkonong
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Koshkonong is located in Oregon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Koshkonong
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • Garfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Garfield is located in Oregon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
  • Ripley County
    • Bardley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bardley is located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardley
  • Texas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Birch Tree, with the one closest to Birch Tree listed first.
    • Summersville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hattie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Hattie is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hattie
    • Hartshorn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hartshorn is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartshorn
    • Eunice
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Yukon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Yukon is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yukon
    • Elk Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Elk Creek is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Creek
    • Raymondville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Solo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Solo is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solo
    • Sargent
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Sargent is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent

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

Cemeteries Near Birch Tree ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Birch Tree.

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 Birch Tree - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Oak Forest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Warm Corners Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Duncan Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Turkey Oak Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • New Salem Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Barnes Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Rader Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Delaware Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Dyer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Pine Lawn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (128 more) ...
    • Mt. Zion Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Black Pond Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Greenlawn Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Birch Tree had a population of 535 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Birch Tree had a population of 652 people.

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

  • Bartlett
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Bartlett is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
  • Montier
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Montier is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montier
  • Not
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Not is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Not
  • Winona
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Alley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Alley is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alley
  • Oakside
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakside is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakside
  • Mountain View
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Low Wassie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Low Wassie is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Wassie
  • Eminence
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Thomasville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Thomasville is located in Oregon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomasville
  • Brawley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Brawley is located in Oregon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brawley
  • Peace Valley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Peace Valley is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Valley
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Shawnee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Shawnee is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
    • Summersville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Greer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Greer is located in Oregon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greer

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Birch Tree ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Birch Tree.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Birch Tree. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Birch Tree and those printed in the larger area surrounding Birch Tree.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3> of Birch Tree.

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 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 Birch Tree:

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