RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Mississippi >> Madison County >> Raytown >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Raytown (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 Raytown. 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 and hospitals 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.

Raytown is located in Madison County.

To see how the shape of Mississippi's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Madison County: Attala, Hinds, Holmes, Leake, Rankin, Scott & Yazoo.

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

  • Madison County     (The home county of Raytown)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raytown, with the one closest to Raytown listed first.
    • Camden
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Sharon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Sharon is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
    • Cobbville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Cobbville is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbville
    • Sharpsburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Sharpsburg is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
    • Davis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Davis is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
    • Maris Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Maris Town is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maris Town
    • Canton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Mill Town
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Mill Town is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Town
    • Madisonville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Madisonville is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madisonville
    • Madison
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Mannsdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Mannsdale is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannsdale
    • Twelve Oaks
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Twelve Oaks is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Oaks
  • Attala County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raytown, with the one closest to Raytown listed first.
    • Newport
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Newport is located in Attala County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
    • Zemuly
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Zemuly is located in Attala County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zemuly
    • Sallis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Kosciusko
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Hinds County
    • North Town Plaza
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • North Town Plaza is located in Hinds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Town Plaza
  • Holmes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raytown, with the one closest to Raytown listed first.
    • Pickens
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Goodman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Richland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Richland is located in Holmes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Durant
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Leake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raytown, with the one closest to Raytown listed first.
    • Saint Ann
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Ann is located in Leake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Ann
    • Lena
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Carthage
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Redwater
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Redwater is located in Leake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwater
    • Tuscola
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Tuscola is located in Leake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscola
    • Walnut Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Standing Pine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Standing Pine is located in Leake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standing Pine
    • Coosa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Coosa is located in Leake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coosa
    • High Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • High Hill is located in Leake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Hill
  • Neshoba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raytown, with the one closest to Raytown listed first.
    • Dowdville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Dowdville is located in Neshoba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowdville
    • Laurel Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Laurel Hill is located in Neshoba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill
  • Rankin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raytown, with the one closest to Raytown listed first.
    • Sand Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Sand Hill is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hill
    • Goshen Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Goshen Springs is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen Springs
    • Fannin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Fannin is located in Rankin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fannin
    • Pelahatchie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Brandon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Flowood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raytown, with the one closest to Raytown listed first.
    • Ludlow
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Ludlow is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow
    • Beach
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Beach is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach
    • Cash
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cash is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash
    • Branch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Branch is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branch
    • Clifton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Clifton is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
    • Harperville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Harperville is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harperville
    • Morton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Kalem
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Kalem is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalem
    • Raworth
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Raworth is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raworth
    • Sebastopol
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Forest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hunter Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Hunter Town is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Town
  • Yazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raytown, with the one closest to Raytown listed first.
    • Vaughan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Vaughan is located in Yazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughan
    • Evans
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Evans is located in Yazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
    • Fordyke
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Fordyke is located in Yazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fordyke
    • Nod
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Nod is located in Yazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nod

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

Cemeteries Near Raytown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Raytown.

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

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

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

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>

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

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

  • Millville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Millville is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
  • Ofahoma
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Ofahoma is located in Leake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ofahoma
  • Revive
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Revive is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Revive
  • Camden
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Sharon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Sharon is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
  • Shoccoe
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Shoccoe is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoccoe
  • Ludlow
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ludlow is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow
  • Good Hope
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Good Hope is located in Leake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Hope
  • Saint Ann
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Ann is located in Leake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Ann
  • Cameron
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cameron is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
  • Eureka
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Eureka is located in Rankin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Oaks
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Oaks is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Sharpsburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Sharpsburg is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
    • Cobbville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Cobbville is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbville
    • Lena
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Raytown ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Raytown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Raytown, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Raytown.

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 Raytown:

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 Raytown, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Raytown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.