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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 Blackwell Crossing (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 Blackwell Crossing. 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.

Name Variations for Blackwell Crossing ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Blackwell Crossing: Blackwell Xing.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Blackwell Crossing is located in Brown County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Brown County: Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, McCulloch, Mills & San Saba.

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

  • Brown County     (The home county of Blackwell Crossing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackwell Crossing, with the one closest to Blackwell Crossing listed first.
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Fry is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
    • Bangs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Brownwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
    • Cross Cut
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
    • Brownwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Early
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • May
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Ricker ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Ricker is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
    • Brookesmith
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Blanket
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Indian Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
    • Zephyr
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackwell Crossing, with the one closest to Blackwell Crossing listed first.
    • Cross Plains
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Cottonwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Rowden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Rowden is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowden
  • Coleman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackwell Crossing, with the one closest to Blackwell Crossing listed first.
    • Burkett
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Santa Anna
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Coleman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Trickham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Trickham is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
      • Former name for Trickham:
      • Trick'em
    • Valera
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Glen Cove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
    • Rockwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Whon ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Whon is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whon
    • Gouldbusk
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Voss
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Novice
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Talpa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackwell Crossing, with the one closest to Blackwell Crossing listed first.
    • Sidney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Sipe Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
  • Eastland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackwell Crossing, with the one closest to Blackwell Crossing listed first.
    • Rising Star
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Okra
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Okra is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okra
    • Nimrod ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
  • McCulloch County
    • Milburn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Milburn is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
  • Mills County
    • Ebony ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ebony is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony

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

Cemeteries Near Blackwell Crossing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blackwell Crossing.

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 Blackwell Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Fairview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Mud Creek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Panther Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • McDaniel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Mukewater Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Walker Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Adams Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Coleman Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Clear Creek Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (62 more) ...
    • Cross Cut Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Roberts Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Lost Creek Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 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.<3>

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

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

  • Thrifty
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Thrifty is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrifty
  • Burkett
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Santa Anna
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Bangs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Cross Cut
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
  • Coleman
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Brownwood
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Trickham
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Trickham is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
    • Former name for Trickham:
    • Trick'em
  • May
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Pioneer
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Pioneer is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
  • Cross Plains
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Ricker ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ricker is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Valera
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Rising Star
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Silver Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Silver Valley is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Valley

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

Newspapers Published in Blackwell Crossing ...

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 8 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blackwell Crossing.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blackwell Crossing, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Blackwell Crossing.

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 Blackwell Crossing:

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 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.
<3>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 Blackwell Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Blackwell Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.