RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Stoddard County >> Messler >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Messler (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 Messler. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Messler is located in Stoddard 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 Stoddard County: Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, New Madrid, Scott & Wayne.

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

  • Stoddard County     (The home county of Messler)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • Painton
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Painton is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painton
    • Bell City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Bell City is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
    • Tillman
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Tillman is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillman
    • Advance
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brownwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Brownwood is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
    • Guam ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Guam is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guam
    • Leora
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Leora is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leora
    • Circle City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Circle City is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Circle City
    • Bloomfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Grayridge
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Grayridge is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayridge
    • Essex
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Essex is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
    • Penermon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Penermon is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penermon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
  • Bollinger County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • Sturdivant
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Sturdivant is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturdivant
    • Greenbrier
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Greenbrier is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbrier
    • Leopold
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Leopold is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leopold
    • Laflin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Laflin is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
    • Zalma
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Zalma is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zalma
      • Estimated population in 2016: 89 people
    • Lutesville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Lutesville is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lutesville
    • Marble Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Glenallen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Glenallen is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenallen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
    • Gipsy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Gipsy is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gipsy
    • Grassy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Grassy is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy
    • Seopus
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Seopus is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seopus
    • Buchanan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Buchanan is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchanan
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • Fisk
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rombauer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Rombauer is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rombauer
  • Cape Girardeau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • Green Cox
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Green Cox is located in Cape Girardeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Cox
    • Randles
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Randles is located in Cape Girardeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randles
    • Cliff ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Cliff is located in Cape Girardeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff
    • Delta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • 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
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Allenville is located in Cape Girardeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
    • Whitewater
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Whitewater is located in Cape Girardeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewater
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Crump
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Crump is located in Cape Girardeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crump
    • Dutchtown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Dutchtown is located in Cape Girardeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchtown
      • Estimated population in 2018: 94 people
    • Gordonville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Burfordville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Gravel Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Gravel Hill is located in Cape Girardeau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
    • Cape Girardeau
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mississippi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • Bertrand
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bertrand is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertrand
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
    • Charleston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Charleston is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,015 people
    • East Prairie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Whiting
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Whiting is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiting
  • New Madrid County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • Morehouse
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Morehouse is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morehouse
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 844 people
    • Sikeston
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Canalou
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Canalou is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canalou
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 286 people
    • Matthews
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ogden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ogden is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden
    • Kewanee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Kewanee is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kewanee
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • Perkins
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Perkins is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkins
    • Caney Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Caney Creek is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney Creek
    • Oran
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Oran is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oran <1>
    • Vanduser
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Vanduser is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanduser
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Crowder
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Crowder is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowder
    • Morley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Morley is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
    • Haywood City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Haywood City is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • Chaffee
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • New Hamburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • New Hamburg is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hamburg
    • Benton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Lambert
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Lambert is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 34 people
    • Blodgett
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Blodgett is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • McGee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • McGee is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGee
    • Lowndes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Lowndes is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowndes
    • Shook
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Shook is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shook
    • Wappapello
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Hiram
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Hiram is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiram
    • Cascade
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Cascade is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Alexander County (IL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messler, with the one closest to Messler listed first.
    • Thebes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Thebes is located in Alexander County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thebes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • East Cape Girardeau
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Miller City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Olive Branch
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • McClure
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • McClure is located in Alexander County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClure
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McClure <1>
    • Diswood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Diswood is located in Alexander County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diswood
    • Cache
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Hodges Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Hodges Park is located in Alexander County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodges Park
    • Unity
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Frog City ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Frog City is located in Alexander County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog City
  • Union County (IL)
    • Reynoldsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Reynoldsville is located in Union County (IL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynoldsville

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

Cemeteries Near Messler ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Messler.

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

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

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

  • Bell City Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Plainview Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Thomas Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Troph Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Darus Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Warfield Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Cruse Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Moore Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Oak Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Frazier Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Morgan Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (308 more) ...
    • Liberty Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Hopkins Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hitt Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)

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>

While we didn't find Messler in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Messler.

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

  • Perkins
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Perkins is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkins
  • Tillman
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Tillman is located in Stoddard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillman
  • Bell City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Bell City is located in Stoddard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
  • Ardeola
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ardeola is located in Stoddard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardeola
  • Green Cox
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Green Cox is located in Cape Girardeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Cox
  • Randles
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Randles is located in Cape Girardeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randles
  • Arbor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Arbor is located in Cape Girardeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbor
  • Advance
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Caney Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Caney Creek is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney Creek
  • Oran
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Oran is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oran <1>
  • Brownwood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Brownwood is located in Stoddard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
  • Zadock
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Zadock is located in Stoddard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zadock
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Avert
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Avert is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avert
    • Delta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Castor ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Castor is located in Bollinger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castor

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

Newspapers Published in Messler ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Messler.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Messler, 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 Messler.

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 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 Messler:

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