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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Ponder (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 Ponder. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Ponder is located in Ripley 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 Ripley County: Clay (AR), Randolph (AR), Butler, Carter & Oregon.

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

  • Ripley County     (The home county of Ponder)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ponder, with the one closest to Ponder listed first.
    • Briar
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Briar is also located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar
    • Gatewood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Gatewood is also located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatewood
    • Doniphan
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Bennett
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Bardley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Bardley is also located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardley
    • Current View
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Oxly
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Oxly is also located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxly
    • Gamburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Fairdealing
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Fairdealing is also located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdealing
    • Naylor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Naylor is also located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naylor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ponder, with the one closest to Ponder listed first.
    • Neelyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Harviell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Carter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ponder, with the one closest to Ponder listed first.
    • Grandin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Grandin is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 231 people
    • Chicopee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Fremont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Fremont is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
    • Ellsinore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Van Buren
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Oregon County
  • Clay County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ponder, with the one closest to Ponder listed first.
    • Current View
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Success
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Success is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
    • Datto
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Datto is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Datto
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
    • Corning
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Moark
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Peach Orchard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Knobel
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Knobel is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knobel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
  • Greene County (AR)
    • Delaplaine
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Delaplaine is located in Greene County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaplaine
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
  • Lawrence County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ponder, with the one closest to Ponder listed first.
    • Imboden
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Imboden is located in Lawrence County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imboden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 617 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Imboden <1>
    • Ravenden
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Randolph County (AR)
  • Sharp County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ponder, with the one closest to Ponder listed first.
    • Wirth
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Williford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Williford is located in Sharp County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people

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

Cemeteries Near Ponder ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ponder.

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

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

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

  • Old Ponder Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Ponder Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Union Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Kennon Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Little Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Plunk Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Patterson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Shirley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Dalton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Dalton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Price Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Rosson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (287 more) ...
    • Wilson Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Murrell Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gartman Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Ponder had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Tucker
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Tucker is also located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
  • Gatewood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Gatewood is also located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatewood
  • Poynor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Poynor is also located in Ripley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poynor
  • Warm Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Supply
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Griswold
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Griswold is located in Oregon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griswold
  • Middlebrook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Doniphan
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Bennett
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Elm Store
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Ingram
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Ingram is located in Randolph County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingram
    • Ingram has also been known as:
    • Gooberhull
  • Maynard
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Billmore
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Billmore is located in Oregon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billmore
    • Dalton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Grove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Grove is also located in Ripley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove

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

Newspapers Published in Ponder ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ponder.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ponder, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ponder.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Ponder:

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