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

Johnson is located in Nemaha 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 Nemaha County: Atchison (MO), Holt (MO), Johnson, Otoe, Pawnee & Richardson.

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

  • Nemaha County     (The home county of Johnson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Rohrs
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Rohrs is located in Nemaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rohrs
    • Brock
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Auburn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Julian
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Julian is located in Nemaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julian
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Howe
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Howe is located in Nemaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howe
    • Peru
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Brownville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Nemaha
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Nemaha is located in Nemaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemaha
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
      • Nemaha has also been known as:
      • Nemaha City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nemaha <1>
    • Saint Deroin ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Saint Deroin is located in Nemaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Deroin
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Avoca
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Nehawka
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Union
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Gage County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Adams
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Virginia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Filley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Graf ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Graf is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
    • Cook
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Cook is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cook <1>
    • Elk Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Tecumseh
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Saint Mary
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Saint Mary is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mary
    • Vesta
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Vesta is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesta
    • Sterling
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Crab Orchard
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Lancaster County
    • Panama
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Otoe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Talmage
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Lorton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Dunbar
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Burr
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Nebraska City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Syracuse
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Otoe
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Wyoming
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Wyoming is located in Otoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
    • Douglas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Unadilla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Palmyra
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Pawnee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Table Rock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Steinauer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Pawnee City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Lewiston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Burchard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Du Bois
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Richardson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Humboldt
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Stella
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Shubert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dawson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Verdon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Barada
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Barada is located in Richardson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
    • Nim City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Nim City is located in Richardson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nim City
    • Salem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Salem is located in Richardson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salem <1>
    • Straussville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Straussville is located in Richardson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straussville
  • Fremont County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Payne
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Payne is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payne
    • Hamburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Hamburg is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,041 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hamburg <1>
    • Percival
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Riverton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sidney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sidney is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,016 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <1>
    • McPaul
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • McPaul is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPaul
  • Nemaha County (KS)
    • Bern
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Bern is located in Nemaha County (KS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bern
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
  • Atchison County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Watson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Watson is located in Atchison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
    • Phelps City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Phelps City is located in Atchison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps City
    • Rock Port
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Farmers City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Farmers City is located in Atchison County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers City
  • Holt County (MO)
    • Corning
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Corning is located in Holt County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people

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

Cemeteries Near Johnson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Johnson.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson 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 Johnson had a population of 234 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Johnson had a population of 327 people.

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

  • Brock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Graf ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Graf is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
  • Glenrock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Glenrock is located in Nemaha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenrock
  • Auburn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Talmage
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Tecumseh
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Elk Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Julian
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Julian is located in Nemaha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julian
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
  • Cook
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cook is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cook <1>
  • Howe
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Howe is located in Nemaha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howe
  • Lorton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Paul
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Paul is located in Otoe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paul
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Peru
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Table Rock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Minersville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Minersville is located in Otoe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Johnson ...

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 207 newspapers that have been published in the area around Johnson.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Johnson. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Johnson and those printed in the larger area surrounding Johnson.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Johnson.

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 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 Johnson:

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