RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oklahoma >> Choctaw County >> Messer >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Oklahoma

The Commemorative Quarter for Oklahoma





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 Messer (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 Messer. 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 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.

Messer is located in Choctaw County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Choctaw County: Atoka, Bryan, McCurtain, Pushmataha, Lamar (TX) & Red River (TX).

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

  • Choctaw County     (The home county of Messer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messer, with the one closest to Messer listed first.
    • Apple
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple
      • Apple is located in Choctaw County
    • Virgil
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
      • Virgil is located in Choctaw County
    • Hugo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
      • Hugo is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,070 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugo <1>
    • Spencerville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sawyer
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
      • Sawyer is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sawyer <1>
    • Grant
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Fort Towson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Towson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Towson
      • Fort Towson is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Towson <1>
    • Soper
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Frogville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Frogville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogville
      • Frogville is located in Choctaw County
    • Swink
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Boswell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Atoka County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messer, with the one closest to Messer listed first.
    • Lone Pine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
      • Lone Pine is located in Atoka County
    • Farris
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • McCurtain County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messer, with the one closest to Messer listed first.
    • Rufe
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Slim
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slim
      • Slim is located in McCurtain County
    • Ringold
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Valliant
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Millerton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in McCurtain County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millerton <1>
    • Wright City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright City
      • Wright City is located in McCurtain County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wright City <1>
  • Pushmataha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messer, with the one closest to Messer listed first.
    • Belzoni
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belzoni
      • Belzoni is located in Pushmataha County
    • Rattan
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Oleta
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleta
      • Oleta is located in Pushmataha County
    • Ethel
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
      • Ethel is located in Pushmataha County
    • Corinne
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
      • Corinne is located in Pushmataha County
    • Antlers
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Finley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Cloudy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloudy
      • Cloudy is located in Pushmataha County
    • Moyers
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Snow
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Eubanks
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eubanks. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eubanks
      • Eubanks is located in Pushmataha County
    • Nashoba
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lamar County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messer, with the one closest to Messer listed first.
    • Arthur City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur City
      • Arthur City is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arthur City <1>
    • Chicota
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Midcity
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midcity
      • Midcity is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Midcity has also been known as:
      • Trout Spur
      • Trout
    • Razor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Razor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Razor
      • Razor is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Powderly
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Garretts Bluff
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garretts Bluff
      • Garretts Bluff is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Camp Maxey ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Camp Maxey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Maxey
      • Camp Maxey is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Novice
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Novice
      • Novice is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Pin Hook
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Hook
      • Pin Hook is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Amherst
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Amherst. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst
      • Amherst is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Caviness
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caviness
      • Caviness is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Hinckley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hinckley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinckley
      • Hinckley is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Sumner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sumner. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumner
      • Sumner is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumner <1>
  • Red River County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messer, with the one closest to Messer listed first.
    • Kanawha
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kanawha. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawha
      • Kanawha is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Addielou
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addielou
      • Addielou is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Silver City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
      • Silver City is located in Red River County (TX)

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

Cemeteries Near Messer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Messer.

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 Messer covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Messer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Messer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Messer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dixon Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dixon Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dixon Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cooksville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cooksville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cooksville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Belzoni Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belzoni Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belzoni Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crosley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crosley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crosley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olive Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Springs Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Springs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Springs Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Springs Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Springs Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jones Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jones Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jones Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spencerville Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spencerville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spencerville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (98 more) ...
    • Goodland Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goodland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goodland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Olive Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olive Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Shoat Springs Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shoat Springs Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shoat Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<5>

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

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

  • Arthur City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur City
    • Arthur City is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arthur City <1>
  • Chicota
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Powderly
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Kanawha
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kanawha. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawha
    • Kanawha is located in Red River County (TX)
  • Woodland
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
    • Woodland is located in Red River County (TX)
  • Emberson
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emberson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emberson
    • Emberson is located in Lamar County (TX)
  • Hinckley
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hinckley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinckley
    • Hinckley is located in Lamar County (TX)
  • Manchester
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manchester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
    • Manchester is located in Red River County (TX)
  • Sumner
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sumner. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumner
    • Sumner is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumner <1>
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Direct
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Direct
      • Direct is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Givens
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Givens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Givens
      • Givens is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Paris
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
      • Paris is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,872 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paris <1>
    • Reno
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reno have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reno
      • Reno is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,349 people
    • Blossom
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossom
      • Blossom is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,576 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blossom <1>
    • Albion
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albion have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
      • Albion is located in Red River County (TX)

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

Newspapers Published in Messer ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Messer.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Messer, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Messer.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Messer:

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

The official website for State of Oklahoma: https://www.ok.gov/

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 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.
<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>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.
<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 Messer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Messer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Messer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0873, Longitude: -95.4694       In this case, the coordinates for Messer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025