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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 Branton (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 Branton. 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 doctors and 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.

Branton is located in Eastland 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 Eastland County: Brown, Callahan, Comanche, Erath, Palo Pinto, Shackelford & Stephens.

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

  • Eastland County     (The home county of Branton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branton, with the one closest to Branton listed first.
    • Okra
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Okra is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okra
    • Rising Star
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Nimrod ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
    • Carbon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Mangum ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Mangum is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mangum
    • Cisco
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Cisco is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <1>
    • Gorman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Kokomo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Kokomo is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokomo
    • Eastland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Olden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Desdemona
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Ranger
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branton, with the one closest to Branton listed first.
    • May
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Cross Cut
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
    • Lake Brownwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
    • Blanket
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Fry is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
    • Early
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branton, with the one closest to Branton listed first.
    • Cross Plains
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Cottonwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Putnam
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Rowden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Rowden is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowden
    • Belle Plain ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Belle Plain is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plain
    • Baird
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Baird is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baird
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,496 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baird <1>
  • Coleman County
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branton, with the one closest to Branton listed first.
    • Sipe Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
    • Duster
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
    • Sidney
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rucker
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Rucker is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
    • De Leon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Comanche
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Comyn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Comyn is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comyn
  • Shackelford County
    • Moran
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Moran is located in Shackelford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moran
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moran <1>
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branton, with the one closest to Branton listed first.
    • Gunsight ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Gunsight is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunsight
    • Eureka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Eureka is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka

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

Cemeteries Near Branton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Branton.

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

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

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

  • Salt Tank Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Wayside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Rising Star Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Elm Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Brown Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the south of Carbon.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2602 <2>
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Center Point Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Sabanno Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Haskell Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Sipe Springs Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (76 more) ...
    • Pisgah Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jewel Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Murray Memorial Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 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.<4>

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

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

  • Rising Star
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Romney
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Romney is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romney
  • Pioneer
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Pioneer is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
  • Nimrod ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
  • Carbon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Sipe Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
  • Cross Plains
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Scranton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Scranton is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scranton
  • Cross Cut
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
  • May
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Cottonwood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
  • Cisco
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Cisco is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,850 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <1>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Duster
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
    • Gorman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Eastland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Branton ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Branton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Branton, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Branton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Branton:

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