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 Ratcliff Ford (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 Ratcliff Ford. 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 Ratcliff Ford ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Ratcliff Ford: Ratcliff Frd.
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.
Ratcliff Ford is located in Texas 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 Texas County: Dent, Douglas, Howell, Laclede, Phelps, Pulaski, Shannon & Wright.
Below are the counties that are near Ratcliff Ford. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ratcliff Ford:
- Texas County (The home county of Ratcliff Ford)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ratcliff Ford, with the one closest to Ratcliff Ford listed first.
- Hattie
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hattie is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hattie
- Summersville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Eunice
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Hartshorn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Hartshorn is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartshorn
- Yukon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Yukon is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yukon
- Sargent
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Sargent is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
- Elk Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Elk Creek is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Creek
- Solo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Solo is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solo
- Raymondville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Simmons
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Simmons is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmons
- Houston
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Cabool
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Mineral Springs City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Carter County
- Fremont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Fremont is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
- Dent County
- Jadwin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Jadwin is located in Dent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jadwin
- Howell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ratcliff Ford, with the one closest to Ratcliff Ford listed first.
- Mountain View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Peace Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Peace Valley is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Valley
- Willow Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Burnham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Burnham is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnham
- Sterling ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Sterling is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
- Pomona
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Pomona is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomona
- West Plains
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Chapin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Chapin is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapin
- Brandsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Brandsville is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
- Siloam Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Siloam Springs is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam Springs
- Cottbus
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cottbus is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottbus
- Oregon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ratcliff Ford, with the one closest to Ratcliff Ford listed first.
- Thomasville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Thomasville is located in Oregon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomasville
- Woodside
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Woodside is located in Oregon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
- Alton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Shannon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ratcliff Ford, with the one closest to Ratcliff Ford listed first.
- Montier
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Montier is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montier
- Birch Tree
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Alley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Alley is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alley
- Eminence
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Winona
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Round Spring
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Round Spring is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Spring
- Akers
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Akers is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akers
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ratcliff Ford, see our County-by-County Page for Ratcliff Ford.
Cemeteries Near Ratcliff Ford ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ratcliff Ford.
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 Ratcliff Ford - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ratcliff Ford covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ratcliff Ford, with the one closest to Ratcliff Ford listed first.
- Harlow Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Oakside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cold Spring Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Gill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Greenlawn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Newsalem Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newsalem Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Newsalem Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the northwest of Mountain View.
- The Newsalem Cemetery has also been known as:
- New Salem Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #30500 <3>
- New Salem Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Grace Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Turkey Oak Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Duncan Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (128 more) ...
- Summersville Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Rowe Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- New Salem Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Ratcliff Ford in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ratcliff Ford.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ratcliff Ford, with the one closest to Ratcliff Ford listed first.
- Oakside
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Oakside is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakside
- Mountain View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Hattie
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hattie is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hattie
- Montier
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Montier is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montier
- Summersville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Clear Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Clear Springs is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Springs
- Birch Tree
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Hutton Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Hutton Valley is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutton Valley
- Peace Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Peace Valley is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Valley
- Not
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Not is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Not
- Eunice
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Alley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Alley is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alley
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Hartshorn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Hartshorn is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartshorn
- Tyrone
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tyrone is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone
- White Church
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- White Church is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Church
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ratcliff Ford. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ratcliff Ford.
Newspapers Published in Ratcliff Ford ...
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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ratcliff Ford.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ratcliff Ford, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ratcliff Ford.
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 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 Ratcliff Ford:
- Websites specific to Missouri
- Pages specific to Texas County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carter County
- Dent County
- Howell County
- Oregon County
- Shannon County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Missouri
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ratcliff Ford) 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 Ratcliff Ford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |