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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 Owls Bend (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 Owls Bend. 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.

Name Variations for Owls Bend ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

  • A typical abbreviation for Owls Bend: Owls Bnd.
  • While the name of this community is Owls Bend, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Owls Bend may originally have been Owl's Bend.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Owls Bend might be written as Owl Bend.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Owls Bend is located in Shannon 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 Shannon County: Carter, Dent, Howell, Oregon, Reynolds & Texas.

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

  • Shannon County     (The home county of Owls Bend)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Bend, with the one closest to Owls Bend listed first.
    • Eminence
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Round Spring
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Round Spring is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Spring
    • Winona
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Alley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Alley is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alley
    • Birch Tree
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Akers
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Akers is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akers
    • Montier
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Montier is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montier
  • Carter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Bend, with the one closest to Owls Bend listed first.
    • Van Buren
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fremont
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Fremont is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
    • Chicopee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Chicopee is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicopee
    • Ellsinore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Dent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Bend, with the one closest to Owls Bend listed first.
    • Bunker
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Gila
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Gila is located in Dent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gila
    • Jadwin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jadwin is located in Dent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jadwin
  • Iron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Bend, with the one closest to Owls Bend listed first.
    • Annapolis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Vulcan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Vulcan is located in Iron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan
    • Sabula
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Sabula is located in Iron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sabula
  • Reynolds County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Bend, with the one closest to Owls Bend listed first.
    • Fruit City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fruit City is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruit City
    • Ellington
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Corridon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Corridon is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corridon
    • Reynolds
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Reynolds is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds
    • Bee Fork
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Bee Fork is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Fork
    • Redford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Redford is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redford
    • Centerville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Greeley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Greeley is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greeley
    • Lesterville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Oates
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Oates is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oates
    • Black
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Texas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Bend, with the one closest to Owls Bend listed first.
    • Summersville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Hartshorn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Hartshorn is located in Texas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartshorn
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Bend, with the one closest to Owls Bend listed first.
    • Piedmont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Mill Spring
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Mill Spring is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Spring
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people

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

Cemeteries Near Owls Bend ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Owls Bend.

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 Owls Bend - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Neeley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Rumburg Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Reed Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Collins Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Pumpkin Hollow Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Chitwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Nuckols Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bunch Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Chilton Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • New Eminence Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Burnham Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (181 more) ...
    • Lower Grassy Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Smith Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Smith Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)

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>

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

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

  • Shawnee
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Shawnee is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
  • Eminence
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Alamode ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Alamode is located in Reynolds County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamode
  • Round Spring
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Round Spring is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Spring
  • Winona
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Low Wassie
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Low Wassie is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Wassie
  • Alley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Alley is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alley
  • Van Buren
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Bartlett
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bartlett is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
  • Chicopee
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Chicopee is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicopee
  • Ink
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Ink is located in Shannon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ink
  • Gila
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Gila is located in Dent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gila
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Redford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Redford is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redford
    • Bee Fork
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Bee Fork is located in Reynolds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Fork
    • Sinkin ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Sinkin is located in Shannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinkin

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

Newspapers Published in Owls Bend ...

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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around Owls Bend.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Owls Bend, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Owls Bend.

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 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 Owls Bend:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Owls Bend, 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' (or 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- Owls Bend) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.