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 Decatur (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 Decatur. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.
Decatur is located in Cape Girardeau 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 Cape Girardeau County: Alexander (IL), Union (IL), Bollinger, Perry, Scott & Stoddard.
Below are the counties that are near Decatur. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Decatur:
- Cape Girardeau County (The home county of Decatur)
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Cape Girardeau
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Dutchtown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Dutchtown is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
- Estimated population in 2018: 94 people
- Gordonville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jackson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Leemon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Leemon is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leemon
- Delta
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Delta is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Delta <1>
- Allenville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Allenville is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
- Pocahontas
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Whitewater
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Whitewater is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewater
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Cliff ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cliff is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff
- Burfordville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Crump
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Crump is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crump
- Gravel Hill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Gravel Hill is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
- Bollinger County
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Laflin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Laflin is located in Bollinger County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Leopold
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Leopold is located in Bollinger County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leopold
- Seopus
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Seopus is located in Bollinger County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seopus
- Sedgewickville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sedgewickville is located in Bollinger County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedgewickville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
- Lutesville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Lutesville is located in Bollinger County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lutesville
- Marble Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Glenallen
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Glenallen is located in Bollinger County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenallen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
- Patton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Greenbrier
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Greenbrier is located in Bollinger County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbrier
- Mississippi County
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Bertrand
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bertrand is located in Mississippi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertrand
- Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
- Charleston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Charleston is located in Mississippi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,015 people
- Greenfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Greenfield is located in Mississippi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Wilson City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wilson City is located in Mississippi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Wyatt
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wyatt is located in Mississippi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- New Madrid County
- Sikeston
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Altenburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Frohna
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Frohna is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frohna
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Uniontown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Uniontown is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Brazeau
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Brazeau is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazeau
- Biehle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Biehle is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biehle
- Farrar
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Farrar is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrar
- Eureka
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Eureka is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Longtown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Longtown is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longtown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Millheim
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Millheim is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
- Scott County
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Scott City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Kelso
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Commerce
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Chaffee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- New Hamburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- New Hamburg is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hamburg
- Benton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Lambert
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Lambert is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert
- Population from the 2010 Census: 34 people
- Caney Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Caney Creek is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney Creek
- Oran
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Morley
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Morley is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
- Perkins
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Perkins is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkins
- Blodgett
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Blodgett is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
- Haywood City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Haywood City is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
- Stoddard County
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Painton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Painton is located in Stoddard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painton
- Bell City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bell City is located in Stoddard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
- Advance
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Tillman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Tillman is located in Stoddard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillman
- Brownwood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Brownwood is located in Stoddard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
- Alexander County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- East Cape Girardeau
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- East Cape Girardeau is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cape Girardeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- McClure
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Thebes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Thebes is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thebes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Diswood
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Diswood is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diswood
- Olive Branch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Elco
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Tamms
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Tamms is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamms
- Population from the 2020 Census: 449 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tamms <1>
- Miller City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hodges Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hodges Park is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges Park
- Unity
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cache
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Frog City ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Frog City is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog City
- Cairo Junction
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cairo Junction is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo Junction
- Jackson County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Grand Tower
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Pomona
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Makanda
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Gorham
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Johnson County (IL)
- Cypress
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Pulaski County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Pulaski
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Ullin
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Villa Ridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Villa Ridge is located in Pulaski County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Ridge
- Mounds
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Mounds is located in Pulaski County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mounds
- Population from the 2020 Census: 666 people
- Perks
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Mound City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Olmsted
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Grand Chain
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- New Grand Chain
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- New Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Grand Chain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Karnak
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Union County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- Reynoldsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Reynoldsville is located in Union County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynoldsville
- Mill Creek
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Mill Creek is located in Union County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
- Wolf Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Dutch Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dutch Mills is located in Union County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Mills
- Jonesboro
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Anna
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Anna is located in Union County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anna
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,059 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anna <1>
- Dongola
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Alto Pass
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cobden
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Pleasant
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Union County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Water Valley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Water Valley is located in Union County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Lick Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lick Creek is located in Union County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Decatur, see our County-by-County Page for Decatur.
Cemeteries Near Decatur ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Decatur.
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 Decatur - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Decatur covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- St. Marys Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- New Lorimier Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Fairmont Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Nunn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Westerwell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Hobbs Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Old Hanover Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Auburn Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bonhardt Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Grays Point Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ervin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (352 more) ...
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Garner Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hobbs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
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 Decatur in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Decatur.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Decatur, with the one closest to Decatur listed first.
- East Cape Girardeau
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- East Cape Girardeau is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cape Girardeau
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Cape Girardeau
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- McClure
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Thebes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Thebes is located in Alexander County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thebes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Kelso
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Dutchtown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Dutchtown is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
- Estimated population in 2018: 94 people
- Egypt Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Egypt Mills is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt Mills
- Jackson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Commerce
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Oriole
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Oriole is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oriole
- New Hamburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- New Hamburg is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hamburg
- Leemon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Leemon is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leemon
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Olive Branch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fruitland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Fruitland is located in Cape Girardeau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
- Ware
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ware is located in Union County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ware
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Decatur. See our List of 1890's Communities around Decatur.
Newspapers Published in Decatur ...
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 126 newspapers that have been published in the area around Decatur.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Decatur, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Decatur.
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 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 Decatur:
- Websites specific to Missouri
- Pages specific to Cape Girardeau County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bollinger County
- Mississippi County
- New Madrid County
- Perry County
- Scott County
- Stoddard County
- Alexander County
- Jackson County
- Johnson County
- Pulaski County
- Union County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Missouri
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 Decatur, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Decatur) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |