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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 Cheney (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 Cheney. 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 hospitals 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.

Cheney is located in Douglas 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 Douglas County: Christian, Howell, Ozark, Taney, Texas, Webster & Wright.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Cheney)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cheney, with the one closest to Cheney listed first.
    • Gentryville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Gentryville is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentryville
    • Buckhart
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Buckhart is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhart
    • Drury
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Drury is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drury
    • Vanzant
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Vanzant is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanzant
    • Olathia
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Olathia is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olathia
    • Squires
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Squires is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squires
    • Richville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Richville is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richville
    • Ava
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Ava is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ava
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,905 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ava <1>
    • Smallett
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Smallett is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smallett
    • Rome
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Rome is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rome
    • Arden
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Arden is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arden
    • Red Bank
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Red Bank is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
    • Johns Mills ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Johns Mills is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johns Mills
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cheney, with the one closest to Cheney listed first.
    • Elkhead
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Elkhead is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhead
    • Bruner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Bruner is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruner
  • Howell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cheney, with the one closest to Cheney listed first.
    • Siloam Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Siloam Springs is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam Springs
    • Sterling ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Sterling is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
    • Burnham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Burnham is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnham
    • Willow Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Pottersville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Pottersville is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersville
    • Caulfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Pomona
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Pomona is located in Howell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomona
  • Ozark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cheney, with the one closest to Cheney listed first.
    • Rockbridge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Almartha
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Almartha is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almartha
    • Brixey
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Brixey is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brixey
    • Wasola
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Wasola is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasola
    • Trail
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Trail is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail
    • Romance
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Romance is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romance
    • Noble
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Noble is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble
    • Foil
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Foil is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foil
    • Summit City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Summit City is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit City
    • Dora
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Zanoni ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Zanoni is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zanoni
    • Thornfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Thornfield is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornfield
    • Gainesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Taney County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cheney, with the one closest to Cheney listed first.
    • McClurg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • McClurg is located in Taney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClurg
    • Bradleyville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Bradleyville is located in Taney County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradleyville
  • Texas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cheney, with the one closest to Cheney listed first.
    • Dunn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Dunn is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunn
      • Former name for Dunn:
      • Impo
    • Cabool
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Sargent
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sargent is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
    • Bendavis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Bendavis is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bendavis
  • Webster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cheney, with the one closest to Cheney listed first.
    • Seymour
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sarvis Point
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sarvis Point is located in Webster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarvis Point
    • Olga
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Olga is located in Webster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olga
    • Diggins
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Diggins is located in Webster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diggins
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cheney, with the one closest to Cheney listed first.
    • Macomb
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Macomb is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macomb
    • Norwood
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Mansfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Mountain Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Hartville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Odin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Odin is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odin
    • Graff
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Graff is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graff
    • Green Mountain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Green Mountain is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Mountain
  • Baxter County (AR)
    • Clarkridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Clarkridge is located in Baxter County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkridge
  • Marion County (AR)
    • Price Place
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Price Place is located in Marion County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Place

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

Cemeteries Near Cheney ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cheney.

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

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

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

  • New Hope Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Clever Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Loftin Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Yates Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Call-Sprague Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Roper Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Henderson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Coy Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Laurie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Dobbs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Tedrick Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Hilo Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (247 more) ...
    • Shiloh Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Vanzant Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Stark Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 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.<3>

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

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

  • Vera Cruz
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Vera Cruz is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vera Cruz
  • Coldspring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Coldspring is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldspring
  • Buckhart
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Buckhart is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhart
  • Larissa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Larissa is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larissa
  • Girdner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Girdner is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girdner
  • Rockbridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Silverton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Silverton is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverton
  • Squires
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Squires is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squires
  • Almartha
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Almartha is located in Ozark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almartha
  • Trail
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Trail is located in Ozark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail
  • Richville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Richville is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richville
  • Ava
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Ava is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ava
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,905 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ava <1>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Macomb
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Macomb is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macomb
    • Noble
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Noble is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble
    • Romance
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Romance is located in Ozark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romance

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

Newspapers Published in Cheney ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cheney.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cheney, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cheney.

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 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 Cheney:

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