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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 Bluffton (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 Bluffton. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Bluffton is primarily located in Allen County. A portion of Bluffton extends into Hancock County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Allen County: Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam & Van Wert.

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

  • Allen County     (The home county of Bluffton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluffton, with the one closest to Bluffton listed first.
    • Beaverdam
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lafayette
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • West Cairo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • West Cairo is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Cairo
    • Cairo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Cairo is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
    • Harrod
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Westminster
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Lima
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gomer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Elida
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Elida is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elida
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,810 people
    • Fort Shawnee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Fort Shawnee is located in Allen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Shawnee
      • Estimated population in 2012: 3,643 people
    • Scotts Crossing
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Conant
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Auglaize County
  • Hancock County
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluffton, with the one closest to Bluffton listed first.
    • Ada
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Ada is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,532 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Dola
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Alger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Huntersville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Huntersville is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntersville
    • McGuffey
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • McGuffey is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGuffey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 484 people
    • Dunkirk
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Patterson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Patterson is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
    • McVitty
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jumbo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Grant
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kenton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Henry County
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluffton, with the one closest to Bluffton listed first.
    • Belle Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Lakeview
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • New Richland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Russells Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Paulding County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluffton, with the one closest to Bluffton listed first.
    • Mandale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Murat ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Oakwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Melrose
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Putnam County
  • Seneca County
  • Van Wert County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluffton, with the one closest to Bluffton listed first.
    • Converse Station
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Converse
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Middle Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Venedocia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Venedocia is located in Van Wert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venedocia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
  • Wood County
  • Wyandot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluffton, with the one closest to Bluffton listed first.
    • Wharton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Wharton is located in Wyandot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wharton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
    • Kirby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Carey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Marseilles
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Marseilles is located in Wyandot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marseilles
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people

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

Cemeteries Near Bluffton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bluffton.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bluffton, with the one closest to Bluffton 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bluffton had a population of 1,290 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Bluffton had a population of 4,030 people.

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

  • Mount Cory
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Cordelia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cordelia is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordelia
  • Cannonsburg ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Pandora
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pandora is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pandora
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,101 people
  • Beaverdam
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Rawson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Hassan ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hassan is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hassan
  • Gilboa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Jenera
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Columbus Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Lafayette
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Ada
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Ada is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,532 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • New Stark
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • New Stark is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Stark
    • Benton Ridge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Benton Ridge is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Ridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
    • Moffitt ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bluffton ...

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 60 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bluffton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bluffton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bluffton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bluffton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3> of Bluffton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Bluffton:

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