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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 Purdy (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 Purdy. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Purdy is located in Barry 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 Barry County: Benton (AR), Carroll (AR), Lawrence, McDonald, Newton & Stone.

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

  • Barry County     (The home county of Purdy)
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purdy, with the one closest to Purdy listed first.
    • Billings
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Clever
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Clever is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clever
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clever <1>
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purdy, with the one closest to Purdy listed first.
    • Sarcoxie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Motley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • La Russell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Reeds
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Reeds is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Parshley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Avilla
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Fidelity
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Forest Mills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lawrence County
  • McDonald County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purdy, with the one closest to Purdy listed first.
    • Rocky Comfort
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Powell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Powell is located in McDonald County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
    • Wylie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Erie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Goodman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Jane
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Newton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purdy, with the one closest to Purdy listed first.
    • Fairview
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Wentworth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Wentworth is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wentworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
    • Newtonia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Stark City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Stella
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Ritchey
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Ritchey is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritchey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
    • Talmage City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Talmage City is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talmage City
    • Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Park is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park
    • Boulder City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Boulder City is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder City
    • Granby
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Granby City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Granby City is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granby City
    • Diamond
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Neosho
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Stone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purdy, with the one closest to Purdy listed first.
    • Crane
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Bradfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cape Fair
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • McCord Bend
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • McCord Bend is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCord Bend
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 304 people
    • Galena
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Hurley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Oto
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Union City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Union City is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
    • White City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • White City is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Marmaros
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Reeds Spring
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Kimberling City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Benton County (AR)
  • Carroll County (AR)

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

Cemeteries Near Purdy ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Purdy.

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

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

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

  • Matty Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Goodnight Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Stinett Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Bullington Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Henderson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Eugene Gates Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Clark Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Burton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Higgs Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Carlin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • New Site Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Peter & Paul Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (269 more) ...
    • Vineyard Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Russell Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Muncie Chapel Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Purdy had a population of 325 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Purdy had a population of 1,131 people.

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

  • Corsicana
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Corsicana is located in Barry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corsicana
  • Butterfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Travers
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Travers is located in Barry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Travers
  • McDowell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • McDowell is located in Barry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDowell
  • Monett
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Pioneer
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Grangeville ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Grangeville is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grangeville
  • Pierce City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Rocky Comfort
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Exeter
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Cassville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Leann
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Verona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Verona is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 606 people
    • Berwick
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Berwick is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwick
    • Jenkins
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Purdy ...

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 94 newspapers that have been published in the area around Purdy.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Purdy. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Purdy and those printed in the larger area surrounding Purdy.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<2> of Purdy.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Purdy:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Purdy) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Purdy, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.