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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 Holden (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 Holden. 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 and 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.

Holden is located in Johnson 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 Johnson County: Cass, Henry, Jackson, Lafayette, Pettis & Saline.

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

  • Johnson County     (The home county of Holden)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holden, with the one closest to Holden listed first.
    • Kingsville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Centerview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • La Tour
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • La Tour is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Tour
    • Latour
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Quick City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Quick City is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quick City
    • Columbus
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Greendoor
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Chilhowee
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Chilhowee is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
    • Cornelia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Warrensburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Leeton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Henrietta
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Bates County
  • Cass County
  • Henry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holden, with the one closest to Holden listed first.
    • Blairstown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Norris
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Maurine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Maurine is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maurine
    • Urich
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Hartwell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Hartwell is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartwell
    • Bowen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Bowen is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowen
    • Calhoun
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Calhoun is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
    • Clinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • La Due
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • La Due is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Due
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 28 people
    • Windsor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Alberta
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holden, with the one closest to Holden listed first.
    • Hicks City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lone Jack
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cockrell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Sni Mills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Lotawana
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Greenwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Grain Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Blue Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Tapawingo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Lake Tapawingo is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapawingo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 719 people
    • Unity Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Unity Village is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
    • Levasy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Levasy is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levasy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
  • Lafayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holden, with the one closest to Holden listed first.
    • Lake Lafayette
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Odessa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Bates City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Mayview
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Aullville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Aullville is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aullville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Waterloo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Higginsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Napoleon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Napoleon is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
    • Wellington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Concordia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Pettis County

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

Cemeteries Near Holden ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Holden.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Holden, with the one closest to Holden 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Holden had a population of 2,520 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Holden had a population of 2,234 people.

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

  • Kingsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Latour
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Centerview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Gunn City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Elm
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Elm is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm
  • Quick City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Quick City is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quick City
  • Pittsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Pittsville is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsville
  • Strasburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Blairstown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Fulkerson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Fulkerson is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulkerson
  • Chilhowee
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Chilhowee is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
  • Greendoor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Holden ...

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 164 newspapers that have been published in the area around Holden.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Holden. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Holden and those printed in the larger area surrounding Holden.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Holden.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Holden:

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 Holden, 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- Holden) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.