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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 Roff (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 Roff. 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 northwest 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 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.

Roff is located in Pontotoc 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 Pontotoc County: Coal, Garvin, Hughes, Johnston, Murray, Pottawatomie & Seminole.

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

  • Pontotoc County     (The home county of Roff)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Fitzhugh
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fittstown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Franks
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Franks is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
    • Harden City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Harden City is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harden City
    • Ada
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Ada is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,239 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Ahloso
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Ahloso is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ahloso
    • Bebee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Bebee is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bebee
    • Oil Center
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Oil Center is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil Center
    • Homer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Homer is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
    • Stonewall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Jesse
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jesse is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jesse
    • Oakman
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Oakman is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakman
  • Carter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Gene Autry
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Gene Autry is located in Carter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gene Autry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 166 people
      • Former names for Gene Autry:
      • Berwyn
      • Dresden
      • Lou
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gene Autry <1>
    • Springer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Coal County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Tupelo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Clarita
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Centrahoma
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Garvin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Stratford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Wynnewood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Pauls Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Paoli
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Whitebead
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Whitebead is located in Garvin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitebead
      • Whitebead has also been known as:
      • White Bead
    • Katie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Katie is located in Garvin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 354 people
    • Hennepin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Hughes County
    • Citra
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Citra is located in Hughes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citra
  • Johnston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Mill Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Connerville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Reagan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Reagan is located in Johnston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reagan
    • Bromide
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ravia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Tishomingo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Wapanucka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mannsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • McClain County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Byars
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rosedale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Rosedale is located in McClain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
  • Murray County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Hickory
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Hickory is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • Sulphur
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Washita
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Washita is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washita
    • Dougherty
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cedar Village is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Village
    • Crusher
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Crusher is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crusher
    • Davis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Pottawatomie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Asher
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Asher is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asher
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Asher <1>
    • Sacred Heart
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Sacred Heart is located in Pottawatomie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacred Heart
    • Wanette
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Seminole County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roff, with the one closest to Roff listed first.
    • Konawa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Sasakwa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Roff ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Roff.

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

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

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

  • East Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • West Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Dolberg Baptist Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Hickory Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Lightning Ridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Hart Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Palmer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Scullin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Midland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaklawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oaklawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the north of Sulphur.
    • The Oaklawn Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Sulphur Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #99129 <3>
  • Shirley Family Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Corley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (182 more) ...
    • Moss Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Fletcher Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Brown Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Francis
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sacred Heart
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Sacred Heart is located in Pottawatomie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacred Heart

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Roff ...

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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Roff.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Roff. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Roff and those printed in the larger area surrounding Roff.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Roff.

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 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 Roff:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Roff) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Roff, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.