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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 Merchiston (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 Merchiston. 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 hospitals and 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.

Merchiston is located in Nance 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 Nance County: Boone, Greeley, Howard, Merrick & Platte.

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

  • Nance County     (The home county of Merchiston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merchiston, with the one closest to Merchiston listed first.
    • Fullerton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Krakow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Krakow is located in Nance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krakow
    • Genoa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Belgrade
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merchiston, with the one closest to Merchiston listed first.
    • Saint Edward
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Boone
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Boone is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone
    • Vorhees
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Vorhees is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vorhees
    • Cedar Rapids
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Albion
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Primrose
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Loretto
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Loretto is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
    • Akron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Akron is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
  • Greeley County
    • Wolbach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merchiston, with the one closest to Merchiston listed first.
    • Hordville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Overland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Overland is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overland
    • Kronborg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Kronborg is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kronborg
    • Marquette
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Howard County
    • Cushing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Cushing is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
  • Madison County
    • Newman Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Merrick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merchiston, with the one closest to Merchiston listed first.
    • Clarks
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Silver Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Central City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Hord
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hord is located in Merrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hord
    • Archer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Palmer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Paddock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Paddock is located in Merrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock
    • Worms
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Worms is located in Merrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worms
    • Chapman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Platte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merchiston, with the one closest to Merchiston listed first.
    • Monroe
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Gardiner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Gardiner is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardiner
    • Rosenburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Rosenburg is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosenburg
    • Oconee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Oconee is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconee
    • Duncan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Platte Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lindsay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Sheldonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Sheldonville is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheldonville
    • Cornlea
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cornlea is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornlea
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Tarnov
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Tarnov is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarnov
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
    • Saint Bernard
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Bernard is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Bernard
    • Columbus
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merchiston, with the one closest to Merchiston listed first.
    • Swedehome
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Swedehome is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedehome
    • Polk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Osceola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Stromsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Shelby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merchiston, with the one closest to Merchiston listed first.
    • Arborville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Arborville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arborville
    • Benedict
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Merchiston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Merchiston.

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

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

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

  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Fullerton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Peter Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • St.s Peter and Paul Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Skeedee Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Valley View Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Bureau Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bureau Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bureau Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the northwest of Clarks.
    • The Bureau Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pierce Chapel Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #100438 <2>
  • Main Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Main Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Main Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the northeast of Belgrade.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #100939 <2>
  • Morning Star Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Lawrence Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Silver Creek Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (94 more) ...
    • Friends Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Clarks Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)

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.<5>

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

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

  • Fullerton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Genoa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Belgrade
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Havens
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Havens is located in Merrick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havens
  • Clarks
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Silver Creek
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Saint Edward
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Monroe
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Gardiner
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Gardiner is located in Platte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardiner
  • Boone
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Boone is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone
  • Cedar Rapids
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Central City
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Swedehome
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Swedehome is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedehome
    • Oconee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Oconee is located in Platte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconee
    • Archer
      (20 miles [32.2 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 Merchiston. See our List of 1890's Communities around Merchiston.

Newspapers Published in Merchiston ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Merchiston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Merchiston, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Merchiston.

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 Merchiston:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Merchiston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Fullerton and Saint Edward. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<5>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 Merchiston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.