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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 Virgil (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 Virgil. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Virgil 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 Virgil. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Virgil:

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

Cemeteries Near Virgil ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Virgil.

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

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

  • Dixon Chapel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spencerville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Messer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shoat Springs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ft. Towson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Towson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Towson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jones Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Ft. Towson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Ft. Towson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Ft. Towson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Everidge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Everidge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Everidge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Belzoni Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rattan Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (103 more) ...
    • Springs Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Springs Chapel Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Crosley Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.<1> 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 Virgil in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Virgil.

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

  • Arthur City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Kanawha
    (16 miles [25.7 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)
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Kanawha
    • From Virgil to Kanawha
  • Chicota
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Powderly
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
    • Woodland is located in Red River County (TX)
  • Manchester
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manchester have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
    • Manchester is located in Red River 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)
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hinckley
    • From Virgil to Hinckley
  • Albion
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albion have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
    • Albion is located in Red River County (TX)
  • Emberson
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emberson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emberson
    • Emberson is located in Lamar County (TX)
  • Givens
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Givens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Givens
    • Givens is located in Lamar County (TX)
  • Sumner
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Reno
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reno have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Virgil ...

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 Virgil.

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

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 Virgil:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Virgil, 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 from Point A (ie- Virgil) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Virgil. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0699, Longitude: -95.3824    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025