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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Bower. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Bower to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Bower, please Contact Us.

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 Bower (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 Bower. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Bower is historic, it would have been located within present day Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Republic (KS), Washington (KS), Fillmore, Gage, Saline & Thayer.

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

  • Jefferson County     (The home county of Bower)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bower, with the one closest to Bower listed first.
    • Powell
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Powell is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
    • Daykin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jansen
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairbury
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Plymouth
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Harbine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Harbine is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbine
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
    • Endicott
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Thompson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Thompson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
    • Diller
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Reynolds
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Steele City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Fillmore County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bower, with the one closest to Bower listed first.
    • Ohiowa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Milligan
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Strang
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Geneva
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Exeter
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Shickley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Gage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bower, with the one closest to Bower listed first.
    • Ellis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Ellis is located in Gage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
    • Beatrice
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Clatonia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lanham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Lanham is located in Gage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanham
    • Odell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Pickrell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Holmesville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Blue Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Wymore
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Rockford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Rockford is located in Gage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
    • Cortland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lancaster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bower, with the one closest to Bower listed first.
    • Kramer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Kramer is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kramer
    • Hallam
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Berks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Berks is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berks
  • Saline County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bower, with the one closest to Bower listed first.
    • Western
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Swanton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Tobias
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • De Witt
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilber
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Dorchester
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Friend
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Crete
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Thayer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bower, with the one closest to Bower listed first.
    • Alexandria
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Gilead
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Belvidere
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Bruning
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Hebron
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Hubbell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Stoddard ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Stoddard is located in Thayer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoddard
    • Carleton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Chester
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Deshler
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Republic County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bower, with the one closest to Bower listed first.
    • Narka
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Narka is located in Republic County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Munden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Munden is located in Republic County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
  • Washington County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bower, with the one closest to Bower listed first.
    • Hollenberg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Hollenberg is located in Washington County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollenberg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20 people
    • Mahaska
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Mahaska is located in Washington County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahaska
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
    • Lanham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Lanham is located in Washington County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanham
    • Blocker ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Blocker is located in Washington County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocker
    • Haddam
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Haddam is located in Washington County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddam
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
      • Haddam has also been known as:
      • Haddam City
      • West Haddam
    • Morrowville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Morrowville is located in Washington County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrowville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
    • Hanover
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Hanover is located in Washington County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 650 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hanover <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Bower ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bower.

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

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

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

  • Bower Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Richland Center Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Powell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Grandy Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bartel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jansen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jansen Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Jansen Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Jansen.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #100839 <3>
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Emmanuel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Megli Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Megli Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Megli Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<4> to the west of Plymouth.
    • The Megli Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Megli - Yost Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #100964 <3>
  • Old Plymouth Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Swan Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • South Fork Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (135 more) ...

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.

Bower itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 20 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Powell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Powell is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
  • Jansen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Daykin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Fairbury
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Gladstone
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gladstone is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
  • Swanton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Western
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Plymouth
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Harbine
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Harbine is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbine
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
  • Alexandria
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Endicott
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Tobias
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Gilead
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Thompson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Thompson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
    • Reynolds
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Bower ...

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 187 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bower.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bower, 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 Bower.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Bower:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Bower, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Bower) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.