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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 Kepler (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 Kepler. 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 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.

Kepler is located in Hawkins County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Hawkins County: Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Sullivan, Washington, Lee (VA) & Scott (VA).

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

  • Hawkins County     (The home county of Kepler)
  • Cocke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kepler, with the one closest to Kepler listed first.
    • Parrottsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Bybee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Grainger County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kepler, with the one closest to Kepler listed first.
    • Bean Station
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Wyatt Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Wyatt Village is located in Grainger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt Village
    • Marshalls Ferry
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Marshalls Ferry is located in Grainger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshalls Ferry
    • Beans
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Beans is located in Grainger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,084 people
    • Thorn Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Bowen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Greene County
  • Hamblen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kepler, with the one closest to Kepler listed first.
    • Whitesburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Silver City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver City is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • Bright ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Bright is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,942 people
    • East Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • East Village is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Village
    • Morristown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Casablanca
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Casablanca is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casablanca
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,223 people
    • Monte Vista Estates
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Monte Vista Estates is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monte Vista Estates
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,860 people
  • Hancock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kepler, with the one closest to Kepler listed first.
    • Kyles Ford
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Willis
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Willis is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
      • Estimated population in 2014: 387 people
    • Trent Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Trent Valley is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent Valley
      • Estimated population in 2014: 4,157 people
    • Duck Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Yount Town
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Sneedville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Xenophon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Xenophon is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Xenophon
    • Alanthus Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Alanthus Hill is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alanthus Hill
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,498 people
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kepler, with the one closest to Kepler listed first.
    • Leadvale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • White Pine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Sullivan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kepler, with the one closest to Kepler listed first.
    • Blair Gap
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Blair Gap is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair Gap
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,870 people
    • Beartown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Beechwood Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Beechwood Village is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechwood Village
    • Fordtown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Kendrick Creek ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Borden Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Borden Village is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Village
    • Cherokee Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cherokee Village is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Village
    • Kingsport
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Morrison City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Morrison City is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrison City
    • Colonial Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Horace ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Horace is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horace
    • Wahoo ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Wahoo is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahoo
    • Bloomingdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Unicoi County
    • Bumpus Cove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bumpus Cove is located in Unicoi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bumpus Cove
      • Estimated population in 2014: 729 people
  • Washington County
  • Harlan County (KY)
  • Madison County (NC)

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

Cemeteries Near Kepler ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kepler.

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

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

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

  • Jake Jones Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Powell Jones Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Tunnel Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Bailey Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Charles Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Hunter Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Harrison Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Tunnel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Kite Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • McClellan Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Webster Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Knox Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (821 more) ...
    • Burns Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Valley View Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Whims Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 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.<2>

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

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

  • New Hope
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • New Hope is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
  • Amis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Van Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Van Hill is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Hill
  • Surgoinsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Strahl
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Austins Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Austins Mill is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austins Mill
  • Vogel ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Vogel is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vogel
  • Stony Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Stony Point is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
  • Gillenwater ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Gillenwater is located in Hawkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillenwater
  • Rogersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Persia
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Morelock ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Morelock is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morelock
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Chimneytop ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Chimneytop is located in Hawkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimneytop
    • Romeo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fisher Creek
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Fisher Creek is located in Hawkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Creek

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

Newspapers Published in Kepler ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kepler.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kepler, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kepler.

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 Kepler:

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 Kepler, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Kepler) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.