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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 Greenville (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 Greenville. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Greenville is located in Wayne 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 Wayne County: Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Iron, Madison, Reynolds & Stoddard.

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

  • Wayne County     (The home county of Greenville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Greenville, with the one closest to Greenville listed first.
    • Silva
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Bounds
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Bounds is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bounds
    • Patterson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Dees Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Dees Town is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dees Town
    • Lodi
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Lodi is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
    • Clubb
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Clubb is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clubb
    • Hiram
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Hiram is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiram
    • Shook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Shook is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shook
    • Lowndes
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Williamsville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Brunot
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Mill Spring
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Bollinger County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Greenville, with the one closest to Greenville listed first.
    • Gipsy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Gipsy is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gipsy
    • Buchanan
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Zalma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Zalma is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zalma
      • Estimated population in 2016: 89 people
    • Grassy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Grassy is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy
    • Greenbrier
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Sturdivant
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Glenallen
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Glenallen is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenallen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
    • Lutesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Marble Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Leopold
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Leopold is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leopold
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Greenville, with the one closest to Greenville listed first.
    • Rombauer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Poplar Bluff
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Kelly Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Kelly Town is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Town
    • Fisk
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Carter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Greenville, with the one closest to Greenville listed first.
    • Ellsinore
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grandin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Grandin is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 231 people
  • Iron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Greenville, with the one closest to Greenville listed first.
    • Des Arc
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Vulcan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Vulcan is located in Iron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan
    • Annapolis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sabula
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Chloride
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Glover
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Glover is located in Iron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glover
  • Madison County
  • Reynolds County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Greenville, with the one closest to Greenville listed first.
    • Redford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Redford is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redford
    • Ellington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Stoddard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Greenville, with the one closest to Greenville listed first.
    • Puxico
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Leora
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Brownwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Advance
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Dudley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Dudley is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people

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

Cemeteries Near Greenville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Greenville.

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

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

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

  • Greenville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Old Greenville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Hickman Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Stephens Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Flinn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Bollinger Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Bennett Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Wight Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Rockwell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • New Prospect Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Liberty Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (317 more) ...
    • Lapka Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Clark Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Green Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 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 Greenville had a population of 210 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Greenville had a population of 455 people.

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

  • Bounds
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Bounds is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bounds
  • Patterson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Taskee Station ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Taskee Station is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taskee Station
  • Lowndes
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Barlow ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Barlow is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barlow
  • Williamsville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Kerrigan ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Kerrigan is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerrigan
  • Coldwater
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Coldwater is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
  • Mill Spring
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Brunot
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Piedmont
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Leeper
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Leeper is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeper
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Keeners
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Keeners is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeners
    • Des Arc
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hendrickson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Hendrickson is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrickson

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Greenville ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Greenville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Greenville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Greenville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Greenville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Greenville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Greenville:

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