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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 Bois d'Arc (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 Bois d'Arc. 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 hospitals and 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.

Bois d'Arc is located in Rains 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 Rains County: Hopkins, Hunt, Van Zandt & Wood.

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

  • Rains County     (The home county of Bois d'Arc)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.
    • Hooker Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Hooker Ridge is located in Rains County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker Ridge
    • East Tawakoni
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • East Tawakoni is located in Rains County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Tawakoni
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 991 people
    • Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Flats
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Flats is located in Rains County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flats
    • Emory
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Collin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.
    • Royse City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Josephine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Nevada
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Copeville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Farmersville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lavon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Delta County
    • Needmore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Needmore is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
  • Hopkins County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.
    • Miller Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bonanza
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Palestine
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Palestine is located in Hopkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
    • Cumby
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Divide
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Divide is located in Hopkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divide
    • Brashear
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Ridgeway
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgeway is located in Hopkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
    • Tazewell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Tazewell is located in Hopkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tazewell
    • Rockdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Rockdale is located in Hopkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
    • Sulphur Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Peerless
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Peerless is located in Hopkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peerless
    • Como
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Como is located in Hopkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Como
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 723 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Como <1>
    • Posey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Posey is located in Hopkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posey
  • Hunt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.
    • West Tawakoni
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • West Tawakoni is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tawakoni
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,994 people
    • Lone Oak
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hawk Cove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Hawk Cove is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawk Cove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 562 people
    • Weiland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Weiland is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weiland
    • Boles Home
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Boles Home is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boles Home
    • Quinlan
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Dixon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Dixon is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
    • Campbell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Union Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Union Valley is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
    • Caddo Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Hendrix
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Hendrix is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrix
    • Neylandville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Neylandville is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neylandville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
  • Kaufman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.
    • Ables Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Ables Springs is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ables Springs
    • Elmo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Poetry
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Poetry is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poetry
    • College Mound
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • College Mound is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Mound
    • Terrell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Abner
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Abner is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abner
    • Lawrence
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Lawrence is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
    • Oak Ridge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Ridge is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Ridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
    • Ola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ola is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
    • Post Oak Bend City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Post Oak Bend City is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak Bend City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 626 people
    • Lone Star
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Lone Star is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
    • Talty
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Talty is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talty
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,883 people
    • Heath
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Heath is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Heath <1>
  • Rockwall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.
    • Blackland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Blackland is located in Rockwall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackland
    • Fate
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Fate is located in Rockwall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,434 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fate <1>
    • McLendon - Chisholm
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • McLendon - Chisholm is located in Rockwall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLendon - Chisholm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,815 people
    • Mobile City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Mobile City is located in Rockwall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mobile City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
    • Rockwall
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Van Zandt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.
    • Wills Point
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Edgewood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Fruitvale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Myrtle Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Myrtle Springs is located in Van Zandt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle Springs
    • Grand Saline
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Canton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Canton is located in Van Zandt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,941 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canton <1>
  • Wood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.
    • Gunter
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Gunter is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunter
    • Alba
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Yantis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Golden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Coke
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Coke is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coke
    • Quitman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Bois d'Arc ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bois d'Arc.

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 Bois d'Arc - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.

  • Hooker Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Lynch Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Shook Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • McMahan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Carter Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Woosley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Lone Star Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Clark Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Worcester - Cooper Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Bellah Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Kuykendall Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Bright Star Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (200 more) ...

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 Bois d'Arc in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bois d'Arc.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Bois d'Arc, with the one closest to Bois d'Arc listed first.

  • Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Lone Oak
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Wieland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Wieland is located in Hunt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wieland
  • McCoy
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • McCoy is located in Kaufman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCoy
  • Dixon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Dixon is located in Hunt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
  • Emory
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Miller Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wills Point
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Edgewood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Divide
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Divide is located in Hopkins County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divide
  • Campbell
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Poetry
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Poetry is located in Kaufman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poetry
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Elmo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Caddo Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Bois d'Arc ...

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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bois d'Arc.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bois d'Arc, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bois d'Arc.

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 Bois d'Arc:

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 Bois d'Arc, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Bois d'Arc) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.