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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 Modena (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 Modena. 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 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 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.

Modena is located in Mercer 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 Mercer County: Decatur (IA), Wayne (IA), Grundy, Harrison, Putnam & Sullivan.

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

  • Mercer County     (The home county of Modena)
  • Daviess County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Modena, with the one closest to Modena listed first.
    • Bancroft
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Coffey
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Coffey is located in Daviess County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people
    • Jamesport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Jameson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pattonsburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gallatin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Gentry County
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Modena, with the one closest to Modena listed first.
    • Spickard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Tindall
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Brimson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Brimson is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brimson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
    • Trenton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Dunlap
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Galt
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Hickory Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Laredo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Laredo is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laredo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
  • Harrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Modena, with the one closest to Modena listed first.
    • Mount Moriah
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Mount Moriah is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Moriah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Cainsville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ridgeway
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Gilman City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gardner
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Akron
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Blythedale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Blythedale is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blythedale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • Bethany
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Eagleville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Martinsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Martinsville is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
    • New Hampton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Hatfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Hatfield is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatfield
  • Linn County
  • Livingston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Modena, with the one closest to Modena listed first.
    • Farmersville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Chula
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Chula is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chula
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chula <1>
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Modena, with the one closest to Modena listed first.
    • Lucerne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Lucerne is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucerne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Powersville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Powersville is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
  • Sullivan County
  • Decatur County (IA)
  • Wayne County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Modena, with the one closest to Modena listed first.
    • Lineville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Lineville is located in Wayne County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lineville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
    • Clio
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hodge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Hodge is located in Wayne County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge

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

Cemeteries Near Modena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Modena.

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

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

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

  • Brummitt Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Union Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Wild Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Griffin Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Groff Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Fox Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Moore Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Goshen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Spickard Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Trussell Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (284 more) ...
    • Wyatt Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Middleberry Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Springer Chapel Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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 Modena had a population of 53 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Mill Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mill Grove is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Grove
  • Dinsmore
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Dinsmore is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dinsmore
  • Goshen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Goshen is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
  • Buttsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Buttsville is located in Grundy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttsville
  • Spickard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Mount Moriah
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Mount Moriah is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Moriah
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Princeton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Bolton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bolton is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
  • Shott
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Shott is located in Grundy County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shott
  • Tindall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Cainsville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Topsy
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Topsy is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsy
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Alvord ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Alvord is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvord
    • Wyandotte
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Wyandotte is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandotte
    • Half Rock
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Half Rock is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Rock

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

Newspapers Published in Modena ...

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 114 newspapers that have been published in the area around Modena.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Modena, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Modena.

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 Modena:

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 Modena, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Modena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.