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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 Ravanna (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 Ravanna. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Ravanna 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 Ravanna. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ravanna:

  • Mercer County     (The home county of Ravanna)
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravanna, with the one closest to Ravanna listed first.
    • Spickard
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tindall
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Galt
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Dunlap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Brimson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Brimson is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brimson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
    • Trenton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Laredo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • 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 Ravanna, with the one closest to Ravanna listed first.
    • Cainsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Mount Moriah
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Mount Moriah is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Moriah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Akron
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Blythedale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Blythedale is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blythedale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • Ridgeway
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Eagleville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Gardner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Linn County
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravanna, with the one closest to Ravanna listed first.
    • Lucerne
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Lucerne is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucerne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Powersville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Powersville is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
    • Saint John
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Unionville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Mendota
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Sullivan County
  • Appanoose County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravanna, with the one closest to Ravanna listed first.
    • Jerome
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cincinnati
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Numa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Plano
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Plano is located in Appanoose County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plano <1>
  • Decatur County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravanna, with the one closest to Ravanna listed first.
    • Morgan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasanton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Davis City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Leon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Garden Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Garden Grove is located in Decatur County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
    • Decatur City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Decatur City is located in Decatur County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Lamoni
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Lamoni is located in Decatur County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamoni
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,196 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lamoni <1>
    • Le Roy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Wayne County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ravanna, with the one closest to Ravanna listed first.
    • Lineville
      (9 miles [14.5 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
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Hodge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Hodge is located in Wayne County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodge
    • Allerton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Genoa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Corydon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Corydon is located in Wayne County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corydon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,593 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corydon <1>
    • Seymour
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Promise City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Humeston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Millerton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Millerton is located in Wayne County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people

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

Cemeteries Near Ravanna ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ravanna.

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

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

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

  • Ravanna Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Weisner Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Duree Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Lowery Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Underwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Collins Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Mercer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Alley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Princeton Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Brantley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Busby Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (309 more) ...
    • Busby Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Girdner Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wilder Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)

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 Ravanna had a population of 348 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Ilia ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Ilia is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ilia
  • Mercer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Alvord ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Alvord is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvord
  • Princeton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Topsy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Topsy is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsy
  • Cleopatra
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Cleopatra is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleopatra
  • Newtown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Lineville
    (9 miles [14.5 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
  • Lucerne
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Lucerne is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucerne
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
  • Powersville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Powersville is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powersville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
  • Harris
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Wataga
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wataga is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wataga
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Adel
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Adel is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adel
    • Goshen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Goshen is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Mill Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Mill Grove is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Grove

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ravanna ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ravanna.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ravanna. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ravanna and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ravanna.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Ravanna.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Ravanna:

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