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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 Lester Junction (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 Lester Junction. 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.

Name Variations for Lester Junction ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Lester Junction: Lester Jct. (or less commonly used: Lester Jctn.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Lester Junction is located in Webster County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Webster County: Jewell (KS), Smith (KS), Adams, Clay, Franklin, Kearney & Nuckolls.

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

  • Webster County     (The home county of Lester Junction)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lester Junction, with the one closest to Lester Junction listed first.
    • Amboy
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amboy
      • Amboy is located in Webster County
    • Pawnee Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pawnee Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee Village
      • Pawnee Village is located in Webster County
    • Red Cloud
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cowles
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cowles. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowles
      • Cowles is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
    • Guide Rock
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guide Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guide Rock
      • Guide Rock is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guide Rock <2>
    • Inavale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Rosemont
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemont
      • Rosemont is located in Webster County
    • Blue Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Hill
      • Blue Hill is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Hill <2>
    • Bladen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lester Junction, with the one closest to Lester Junction listed first.
    • Ayr
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ayr have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayr
      • Ayr is located in Adams County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ayr <2>
    • Roseland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Holstein
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Assumption
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assumption
      • Assumption is located in Adams County
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lester Junction, with the one closest to Lester Junction listed first.
    • Deweese
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Glenvil
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lester Junction, with the one closest to Lester Junction listed first.
    • Riverton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
      • Riverton is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverton <2>
    • Campbell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Campbell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Campbell is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campbell <2>
    • Franklin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Franklin is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 899 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <2>
    • Upland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Macon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
      • Macon is located in Franklin County
  • Nuckolls County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lester Junction, with the one closest to Lester Junction listed first.
    • Lawrence
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
      • Lawrence is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawrence <2>
    • Superior
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Nelson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Nora
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora
      • Nora is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
    • Hardy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Angus
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
      • Angus is located in Nuckolls County
    • Oak
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak
      • Oak is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak <2>
    • Ruskin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruskin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruskin
      • Ruskin is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 113 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruskin <2>
  • Jewell County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lester Junction, with the one closest to Lester Junction listed first.
    • Burr Oak
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burr Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr Oak
      • Burr Oak is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
    • Esbon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esbon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esbon
      • Esbon is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Esbon <2>
    • Webber
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Webber have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webber
      • Webber is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Webber <2>
    • Mankato
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Montrose
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
      • Montrose is located in Jewell County (KS)
      • Former name for Montrose:
      • Delta
  • Republic County (KS)
    • White Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for White Rock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
      • White Rock is located in Republic County (KS)
  • Smith County (KS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lester Junction, with the one closest to Lester Junction listed first.
    • Womer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Womer
      • Womer is located in Smith County (KS)
    • Lebanon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Bellaire
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellaire
      • Bellaire is located in Smith County (KS)
    • Smith Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Lester Junction ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lester Junction.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Martin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Martin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wagoner Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wagoner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wagoner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Red Cloud Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Cloud Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Cloud Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Murphy Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murphy Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murphy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Guide Rock Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Guide Rock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Guide Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cowles Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Gust Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Monia Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Monia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Monia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mulkey Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mulkey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mulkey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (120 more) ...
    • North Branch Friends Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Branch Friends Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Branch Friends Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Columbia Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Columbia Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Columbia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<4>

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

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

  • Amboy
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amboy
    • Amboy is located in Webster County
  • Red Cloud
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Cowles
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cowles. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowles
    • Cowles is located in Webster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 27 people
  • Guide Rock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guide Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guide Rock
    • Guide Rock is located in Webster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guide Rock <2>
  • Northbranch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northbranch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northbranch
    • Northbranch is located in Jewell County (KS)
  • Inavale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Bostwick
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bostwick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bostwick
    • Bostwick is located in Nuckolls County
  • Mount Clare
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Clare have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Clare
    • Mount Clare is located in Nuckolls County
  • Rosemont
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemont
    • Rosemont is located in Webster County
  • Womer
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Womer
    • Womer is located in Smith County (KS)
  • Burr Oak
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burr Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr Oak
    • Burr Oak is located in Jewell County (KS)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
  • Riverton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
    • Riverton is located in Franklin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverton <2>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Blue Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Hill
      • Blue Hill is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Hill <2>
    • Cora
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cora
      • Cora is located in Smith County (KS)
    • Lawrence
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
      • Lawrence is located in Nuckolls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawrence <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Lester Junction ...

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 153 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lester Junction.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lester Junction, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lester Junction.

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 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 Lester Junction:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lester Junction. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Webster County: www.co.webster.ne.us/

The official website for State of Nebraska: https://www.nebraska.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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 Lester Junction, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Lester Junction) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lester Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0856, Longitude: -98.4437       In this case, the coordinates for Lester Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025