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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 Doniphan (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 Doniphan. 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 and 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.

Doniphan is located in Ripley County and is the County Seat.

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 Ripley County: Clay (AR), Randolph (AR), Butler, Carter & Oregon.

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

  • Ripley County     (The home county of Doniphan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Oxly
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Oxly is located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxly
    • Current View
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Briar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Briar is located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar
    • Ponder
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Gamburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Fairdealing
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Fairdealing is located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdealing
    • Naylor
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Naylor is located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naylor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
    • Bennett
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Gatewood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Gatewood is located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatewood
    • Bardley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Bardley is located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardley
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Neelyville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Harviell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Kelly Town
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Kelly Town is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Town
    • Poplar Bluff
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Oglesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Carter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Grandin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Grandin is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 231 people
    • Ellsinore
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Chicopee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Van Buren
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Fremont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Fremont is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
  • Oregon County
  • Wayne County
    • Williamsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Clay County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Current View
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Success
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Success is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
    • Datto
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Datto is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Datto
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
    • Corning
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Moark
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Knobel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Knobel is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knobel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Peach Orchard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • McDougal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • McDougal is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDougal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people
  • Greene County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doniphan, with the one closest to Doniphan listed first.
    • Delaplaine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Delaplaine is located in Greene County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaplaine
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Stonewall
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Randolph County (AR)

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

Cemeteries Near Doniphan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Doniphan.

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

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

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

  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • St. Benedicts Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Gartman Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • McGee - Payne Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Worley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Riley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Towles Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Towles Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Price Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Hancock Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Bradley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (269 more) ...
    • Rosson Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Wilson Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Plunk Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Doniphan had a population of 609 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Doniphan had a population of 1,919 people.

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

  • Pleasant Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Poynor
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Poynor is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poynor
  • Ponder
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Gamburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Fairdealing
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Fairdealing is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdealing
  • Middlebrook
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bennett
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Supply
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Tucker
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Tucker is located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
  • Maynard
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Palatka
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Palatka is located in Clay County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palatka
  • Grandin
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Grandin is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 231 people
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Gatewood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Gatewood is located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatewood
    • Warm Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Belcher ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Belcher is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belcher

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Doniphan ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Doniphan.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Doniphan. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Doniphan and those printed in the larger area surrounding Doniphan.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3> of Doniphan.

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 Doniphan:

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 Doniphan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Doniphan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.