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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 Russell (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 Russell. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Russell is located in Greer 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 Greer County: Beckham, Harmon, Jackson & Kiowa.

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

  • Greer County     (The home county of Russell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Reed
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Reed is located in Greer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed
    • Mangum
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hester
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Hester is located in Greer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hester
    • Bloomington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Bloomington is located in Greer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington
    • Jester
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jester is located in Greer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jester
    • Granite
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Willow
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Beckham County
    • Delhi
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Delhi is located in Beckham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
  • Harmon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Gould
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Vinson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Louis ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Louis is located in Harmon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louis
    • Hollis
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Arnett
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Arnett is located in Harmon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnett
    • Sandy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Sandy is located in Harmon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Duke
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • East Duke
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • East Duke is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Duke
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 383 people
    • Victory
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Victory is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory
    • Martha
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Blair
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Eldorado
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Olustee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Altus
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Altus is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altus
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,162 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altus <1>
    • Friendship
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Friendship is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
    • Elmer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Humphreys
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Humphreys is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humphreys
    • Hess
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Hess is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hess
  • Kiowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Lugert ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Lugert is located in Kiowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lugert
    • Lone Wolf
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Childress County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Arlie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Arlie is located in Childress County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlie
    • Loco ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Loco is located in Childress County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loco
  • Collingsworth County (TX)
    • Dodson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Dodson is located in Collingsworth County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dodson <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Russell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Russell.

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

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

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

  • Russell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Langford Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Wildcat Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Rock Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Ladessa Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • White Flat Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Gould Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Cottonwood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Reed Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Duke Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Guffin Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (57 more) ...
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Tea Cross Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Roselawn Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)

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>

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

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

  • Reed
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Reed is located in Greer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed
  • Duke
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Mangum
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Louis ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Louis is located in Harmon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louis
  • Victory
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Victory is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory
  • Martha
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Bloomington
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Bloomington is located in Greer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington
  • Jester
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Jester is located in Greer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jester
  • Eldorado
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Altus
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Altus is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altus
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,162 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altus <1>
  • Arlie
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Arlie is located in Childress County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlie
  • Fresno
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Fresno is located in Collingsworth County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresno
  • Delhi
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Delhi is located in Beckham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi

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

Newspapers Published in Russell ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Russell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Russell, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Russell.

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 Russell:

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