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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 Brookfield (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 Brookfield. 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 northeast 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 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.

Brookfield is located in Linn 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 Linn County: Adair, Chariton, Grundy, Livingston, Macon & Sullivan.

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

  • Linn County     (The home county of Brookfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookfield, with the one closest to Brookfield listed first.
    • Laclede
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Forker
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Linneus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Linneus is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linneus
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
    • Marceline
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bucklin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Purdin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Purdin is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purdin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
    • Meadville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Meadville is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
    • Fountain Grove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • New Boston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • New Boston is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Boston
    • Browning
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Haseville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Adair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookfield, with the one closest to Brookfield listed first.
    • Nind ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Yarrow ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Carroll County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookfield, with the one closest to Brookfield listed first.
    • Hale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Asper ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Asper is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asper
    • Bosworth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Tina
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Tina is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
    • De Witt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • De Witt is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Witt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 113 people
  • Chariton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookfield, with the one closest to Brookfield listed first.
    • Rothville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Rothville is located in Chariton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rothville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
    • Sumner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mendon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Mendon is located in Chariton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
    • Chraneville ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Chraneville is located in Chariton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chraneville
    • Triplett
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Snyder
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Brunswick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Keytesville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Missouri Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Missouri Village is located in Chariton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missouri Village
    • Dalton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Dalton is located in Chariton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
    • Grand River City ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Grand River City is located in Chariton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River City
    • Salisbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookfield, with the one closest to Brookfield listed first.
    • Laredo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Laredo is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laredo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
    • Galt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Livingston County
  • Macon County
  • Randolph County
  • Sullivan County

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

Cemeteries Near Brookfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brookfield.

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

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

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

  • Rosehill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Stains Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • New Garden Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Redding Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • St. Bonaventure Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant View Baptist Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Rothville Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Cash Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Baker Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Pulliam Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (202 more) ...
    • Dryden Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Taylor Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)

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 Brookfield had a population of 4,547 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Brookfield had a population of 4,178 people.

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

  • Saint Catharine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Saint Catharine is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Catharine
  • Laclede
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Marceline
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Linneus
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Linneus is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linneus
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
  • Rothville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Rothville is located in Chariton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rothville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
  • Bucklin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Hybrid ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Hybrid is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hybrid
  • Leverton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Leverton is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leverton
  • Sumner
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Purdin
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Purdin is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purdin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
  • Meadville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Meadville is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
  • Fountain Grove
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Mendon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Mendon is located in Chariton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
    • Westville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Westville is located in Chariton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville
    • Lingo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Brookfield ...

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 91 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brookfield.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Brookfield. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Brookfield and those printed in the larger area surrounding Brookfield.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Brookfield.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Brookfield:

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 Brookfield, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brookfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.