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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 Cockrell (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 Cockrell. 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.

Cockrell is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Johnson (KS), Wyandotte (KS), Cass, Clay, Johnson, Lafayette & Ray.

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

  • Jackson County     (The home county of Cockrell)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cockrell, with the one closest to Cockrell listed first.
    • Baldwin Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Baldwin Park is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
    • Pleasant Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Lake Winnebago
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lake Winnebago is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Winnebago
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,370 people
    • Lee's Summit
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Strasburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Coleman
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Raymore
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • East Lynne
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Gunn City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Harrelson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Harrelson is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrelson
    • Peculiar
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Belton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Harrisonville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cockrell, with the one closest to Cockrell listed first.
    • Sugar Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Birmingham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Minaville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • East Kansas City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • East Kansas City is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Kansas City
    • Randolph
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Missouri City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Avondale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Avondale is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
    • Claycomo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Claycomo is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claycomo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,526 people
    • Glenaire
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Glenaire is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenaire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 583 people
    • North Kansas City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodhill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
  • Henry County
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cockrell, with the one closest to Cockrell listed first.
    • Kingsville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Holden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Columbus
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • La Tour
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • La Tour is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Tour
    • Latour
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Greendoor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Centerview
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Quick City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Quick City is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quick City
    • Warrensburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Chilhowee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Chilhowee is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
  • Lafayette County
  • Platte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cockrell, with the one closest to Cockrell listed first.
    • Northmoor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Northmoor is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northmoor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
    • Riverside
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Houston Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Houston Lake is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
  • Ray County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cockrell, with the one closest to Cockrell listed first.
    • Orrick
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Fleming
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Fleming is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleming
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Albany
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Albany is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
    • Camden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Henrietta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Henrietta is located in Ray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 355 people
    • Richmond
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Johnson County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cockrell, with the one closest to Cockrell listed first.
    • Leawood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Mission Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Mission Hills is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,533 people
    • Mission Woods
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Mission Woods is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Woods
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
    • Westwood Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Westwood Hills is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 390 people
    • Prairie Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Fairway
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairway is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,963 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairway <1>
    • Westwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Westwood is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,642 people
    • Mission
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Mission is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,873 people
      • Former name for Mission:
      • Mission Hill Acres
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mission <1>
    • Roeland Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Countryside
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Countryside is located in Johnson County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
    • Overland Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Stilwell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Merriam
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Miami County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cockrell, with the one closest to Cockrell listed first.
    • Wea
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bucyrus
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Louisburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Louisburg is located in Miami County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,590 people
      • Former name for Louisburg:
      • New Saint Lewis
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisburg <1>
  • Wyandotte County (KS)

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

Cemeteries Near Cockrell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cockrell.

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

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

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

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Cockrell had a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Cockrell ...

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 203 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cockrell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cockrell, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cockrell.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Cockrell:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Cockrell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Cockrell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.