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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 Cato (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 Cato. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Cato is located in Kingfisher County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Kingfisher County: Blaine, Canadian, Garfield, Logan, Major & Oklahoma.

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

  • Kingfisher County     (The home county of Cato)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cato, with the one closest to Cato listed first.
    • Lacey
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lacey is located in Kingfisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
    • Hennessey
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Loyal
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Loyal is located in Kingfisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loyal <1>
    • Oneida
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Oneida is located in Kingfisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
    • Dover
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Dover is located in Kingfisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dover <1>
    • Alpha
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Alpha is located in Kingfisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
    • Kingfisher
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Omega
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wandel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Wandel is located in Kingfisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wandel
    • Altona
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Altona is located in Kingfisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altona
    • Reeding
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Reeding is located in Kingfisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeding
    • Cashion
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Alfalfa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cato, with the one closest to Cato listed first.
    • Goltry
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Helena
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Blaine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cato, with the one closest to Cato listed first.
    • Okeene
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Hitchcock
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Southard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Carlton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Carlton is located in Blaine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlton
    • Longdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Watonga
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Canadian County
    • Okarche
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Garfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cato, with the one closest to Cato listed first.
    • Bison
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Drummond
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Waukomis
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lahoma
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Enid
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Enid is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enid
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49,542 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Enid <1>
    • Douglas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • North Enid
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • North Enid is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Enid
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 917 people
    • Carrier
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Fairmont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Breckenridge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Breckenridge is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
    • Covington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillsdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Hillsdale is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
      • Former name for Hillsdale:
      • Coldwater
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hillsdale <1>
    • Kremlin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cato, with the one closest to Cato listed first.
    • Marshall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Crescent
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Cimarron City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cimarron City is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cimarron City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 174 people
  • Major County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cato, with the one closest to Cato listed first.
    • Ames
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Meno
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Isabella
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Ringwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Fairview
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Cleo Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Orienta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Cato ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cato.

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

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

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

  • Morrison Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lacey Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Hope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Cimarron Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Wilhite Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Harmony Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Hennessey Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Hennessey Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Wildwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Delnorte Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (125 more) ...
    • St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bison Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Holcomb - Cook Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)

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 in 1895, Cato had no post office or railroad service.

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

  • Lacey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lacey is located in Kingfisher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
  • Hennessey
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Parvin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Parvin is located in Kingfisher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parvin
  • Waukomis
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Oneida
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Oneida is located in Kingfisher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
  • Dover
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Dover is located in Kingfisher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dover <1>
  • Okeene
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Isabella
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Alpha
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Alpha is located in Kingfisher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
  • Enid
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Enid is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enid
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 49,542 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Enid <1>
  • Homestead
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Homestead is located in Blaine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
  • Omega
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Kingfisher
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • North Enid
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • North Enid is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Enid
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 917 people
    • Marshall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Cato ...

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 116 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cato.

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

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 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 Cato:

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 Cato, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cato) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.