RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Nebraska >> Lancaster County >> Bethany >> 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 Bethany (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 Bethany. 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 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.

Bethany is located in Lancaster County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lancaster County: Butler, Cass, Gage, Johnson, Otoe, Saline, Saunders & Seward.

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

  • Lancaster County     (The home county of Bethany)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Havelock
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Havelock is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havelock
    • Belmont
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Belmont is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Lincoln
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Lincoln is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 290,505 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lincoln <1>
    • Arbor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Arbor is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbor
    • College View
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • College View is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College View
    • Walton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gaslight Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Gaslight Village is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaslight Village
    • West Lincoln
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • West Lincoln is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lincoln
    • Prairie Home
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Prairie Home is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Home
    • Pine Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Pine Lake is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake
    • Cheney
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Cheney is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheney
    • Waverly
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Davey
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Davey is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Davey <1>
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Dwight
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Loma
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Loma is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma
    • Brainard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Eagle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Alvo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Greenwood
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Elmwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Murdock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Wabash
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Wabash is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabash
    • South Bend
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Manley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Weeping Water
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Avoca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Louisville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Gage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Cortland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Adams
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Clatonia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Johnson County
    • Sterling
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Otoe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Palmyra
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Douglas
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Unadilla
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Burr
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Syracuse
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Otoe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Saline County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Crete
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dorchester
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilber
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Sarpy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Linoma Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Linoma Beach is located in Sarpy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linoma Beach
    • Gretna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Saunders County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Ceresco
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Ashland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Valparaiso
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Swedeburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Swedeburg is located in Saunders County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedeburg
    • Memphis
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ithaca
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Weston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Wahoo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Wahoo is located in Saunders County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahoo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,603 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wahoo <1>
    • Wann
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Wann is located in Saunders County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wann
    • Mead
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Mead is located in Saunders County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 571 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mead <1>
    • Malmo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Seward County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany listed first.
    • Pleasant Dale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Garland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Camden ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Camden is located in Seward County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camden
    • Grover
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Grover is located in Seward County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
    • Milford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Ruby
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Ruby is located in Seward County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
    • Seward
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Bee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Bee is located in Seward County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bee <1>
    • Staplehurst
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Goehner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Bethany ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bethany.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bethany, with the one closest to Bethany 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.<3>

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

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

  • Havelock
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Havelock is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havelock
  • University Place
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • University Place is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Place
  • Lincoln
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lincoln is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 290,505 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lincoln <1>
  • College View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • College View is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College View
  • Walton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • West Lincoln
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • West Lincoln is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lincoln
  • Prairie Home
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Prairie Home is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Home
  • Cheney
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Cheney is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheney
  • Waverly
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodlawn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodlawn is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
  • Jamaica
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jamaica is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamaica
  • Saltillo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Saltillo is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltillo
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Eagle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Emerald
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Emerald is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald
    • Davey
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Davey is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Davey <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Bethany ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bethany.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bethany, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bethany.

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 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 Bethany:

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>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.
<3>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 Bethany, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Bethany) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.