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 Cotton Valley (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 Cotton Valley. 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 Cotton Valley ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Cotton Valley: Cotton Vly. (or less commonly used: Cotton Vally. or Cotton Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Cotton Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Cotton Valley.
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 northwest 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 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.
Cotton Valley is located in Washington 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 Washington County: Chautauqua (KS), Montgomery (KS), Nowata, Osage, Rogers & Tulsa.
Below are the counties that are near Cotton Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Cotton Valley:
- Washington County (The home county of Cotton Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Copan
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Dewey
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Bartlesville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Hogshooter
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Hogshooter is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogshooter
- Oglesby
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Oglesby is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oglesby
- Ochelata
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Ramona
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Nowata County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Wann
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- South Coffeyville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- South Coffeyville is located in Nowata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Coffeyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
- Lenapah
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Delaware
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Nowata
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Coodys Bluff
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Coodys Bluff is located in Nowata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coodys Bluff
- Sanders
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Sanders is located in Nowata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders
- Watova
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Watova is located in Nowata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watova
- Osage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Bowring
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Whippoorwill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Whippoorwill is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whippoorwill
- Herd
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Herd is located in Osage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herd
- Rogers County
- Jamestown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jamestown is located in Rogers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Chautauqua County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Niotaze
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Niotaze is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niotaze
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
- Jonesburg ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Jonesburg is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesburg
- Peru
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Peru is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
- Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
- Chautauqua
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Chautauqua is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chautauqua
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Monett
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Monett is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monett
- Hale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hale is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Sedan
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sedan is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sedan <1>
- Grafton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Grafton is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
- Elgin
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Elgin is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
- Elgin has also been known as:
- New Elgin
- Rogers
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Rogers is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Gibbs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Gibbs is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbs
- Hewins
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Hewins is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewins
- Wauneta
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Wauneta is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauneta
- Elk County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Oak Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Oak Valley is located in Elk County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Valley
- Longton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Longton is located in Elk County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
- Former name for Longton:
- Elk Rapids
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Longton <1>
- Labette County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Valeda
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Valeda is located in Labette County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valeda
- Edna
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Edna is located in Labette County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
- Population from the 2020 Census: 401 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <1>
- Penfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Penfield is located in Labette County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penfield
- Mound Valley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mound Valley is located in Labette County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 378 people
- Montgomery County (KS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Caney
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Caney is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,948 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Caney <1>
- Tyro
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Tyro is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
- Havana
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Havana is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
- Dearing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Coffeyville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Kalloch ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kalloch is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalloch
- Kalloch has also been known as:
- Kallocki
- Avian ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Avian is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avian
- Independence
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Elk City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Elk City is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
- Sycamore
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Sycamore is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
- Cherryvale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wilson County (KS)
- Lafontaine
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Lafontaine is located in Wilson County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lafontaine
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cotton Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Cotton Valley.
Cemeteries Near Cotton Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cotton Valley.
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 Cotton Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Cotton Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Wann Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wann Cemetery
- The Wann Cemetery has also been known as:
- Patrick Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #99210 <2>
- Pioneer Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Sunny Side Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Fawn Creek Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Steward Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Robbins Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Labadie Family Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Havana Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ireland Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Lenno Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dewey Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (135 more) ...
- Dewey Negro Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Fairview Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Haynes Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
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>
While we didn't find Cotton Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cotton Valley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Cotton Valley, with the one closest to Cotton Valley listed first.
- Caney
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Caney is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,948 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Caney <1>
- Tyro
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Tyro is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
- Havana
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Havana is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
- Dearing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wayside
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Wayside is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
- Niotaze
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Niotaze is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niotaze
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
- Jefferson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Jefferson is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Coffeyville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Bolton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Bolton is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
- Jonesburg ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Jonesburg is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesburg
- Kalloch ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kalloch is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalloch
- Kalloch has also been known as:
- Kallocki
- Peru
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Peru is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
- Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Chautauqua
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Chautauqua is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chautauqua
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88 people
- Monett
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Monett is located in Chautauqua County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monett
- Liberty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty is located in Montgomery County (KS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Cotton Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cotton Valley.
Newspapers Published in Cotton Valley ...
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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cotton Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cotton Valley, 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 Cotton Valley.
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 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 Cotton Valley:
- Websites specific to Oklahoma
- Pages specific to Washington County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Nowata County
- Osage County
- Rogers County
- Chautauqua County
- Elk County
- Labette County
- Montgomery County
- Wilson County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Oklahoma
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 Cotton Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Cotton Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |