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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 Brookshire (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 Brookshire. 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.

Brookshire is located in Waller 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 Waller County: Austin, Fort Bend, Grimes, Harris, Montgomery & Washington.

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

  • Waller County     (The home county of Brookshire)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookshire, with the one closest to Brookshire listed first.
    • Pattison
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Clemons
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Clemons is located in Waller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clemons
    • Pine Island
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Pine Island is located in Waller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,205 people
    • Prairie View
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Hempstead
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Fields Store
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Fields Store is located in Waller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields Store
    • Saint Paul
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Saint Paul is located in Waller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Paul
  • Austin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookshire, with the one closest to Brookshire listed first.
    • Brazos Country
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Brazos Country is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos Country
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
    • Frydek
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Frydek is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frydek
    • San Felipe
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Wallis
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sealy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Rexville ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Rexville is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexville
    • Millheim
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Millheim is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
    • Bellville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckhorn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Buckhorn is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
    • Cat Spring
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Sempronius ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Sempronius is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sempronius
    • Kenney
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • New Wehdem
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • New Wehdem is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Wehdem
  • Colorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookshire, with the one closest to Brookshire listed first.
    • Eagle Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ramsey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Ramsey is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
    • Matthews
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Matthews is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matthews
  • Fort Bend County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookshire, with the one closest to Brookshire listed first.
    • Weston Lakes
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Weston Lakes is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,191 people
    • Katy
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Katy is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,889 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Katy <1>
    • Simonton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Fulshear
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pin Oak Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Pin Oak Village is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Oak Village
    • Cinco Ranch
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Cinco Ranch is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinco Ranch
    • Orchard
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Clodine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • West Oaks Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • West Oaks Village is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Oaks Village
    • Cumings
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cumings is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumings
    • Pecan Grove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Pecan Grove is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Grove
    • Richmond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Rosenberg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Harris County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookshire, with the one closest to Brookshire listed first.
    • Westfield Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Westfield Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield Village
    • Westlake Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Westlake Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake Village
    • Westlake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Westlake is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
    • Settlers Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Settlers Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Village
    • Highland Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Highland Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Village
    • Barker
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Deerfield Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Deerfield Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield Village
    • Pine Forest Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Pine Forest Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest Village
    • Addicks
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Addicks is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addicks
    • Hockley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Copperfield Southcreek Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Bear Creek Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Bear Creek Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 500 people
    • Parkway Villages
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Parkway Villages is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkway Villages
  • Montgomery County
    • Stagecoach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Stagecoach is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stagecoach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 604 people
  • Washington County
  • Wharton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brookshire, with the one closest to Brookshire listed first.
    • East Bernard
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Nottawa
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Nottawa is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottawa
    • Lissie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hungerford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Bonus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Bonus is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonus

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

Cemeteries Near Brookshire ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brookshire.

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

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

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

  • Brookshire Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Brookshire Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Wilpitz Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Pattison Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bozeman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Kountze Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Clemons Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Wendt Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Waller Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kholor Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Simonton Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simonton Cemetery
    • The Simonton Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Simonton Community Cemetery
  • Little Prayer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (191 more) ...
    • Pool Hill Mason Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Katy Magnolia Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • San Felipe de Austin Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)

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 Brookshire in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brookshire.

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

  • Pattison
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Clemons
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Clemons is located in Waller County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clemons
  • Fulshear
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • San Felipe
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Sunny Side
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunny Side is located in Waller County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
  • Foster
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Foster is located in Fort Bend County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster
  • Monaville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Monaville is located in Waller County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monaville
  • Sealy
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Westfield
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Westfield is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
  • Peters
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Peters is located in Austin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
  • Clodine
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • East Bernard
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Rosenberg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Richmond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Addicks
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Addicks is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addicks

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Brookshire ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brookshire.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Brookshire. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Brookshire and those printed in the larger area surrounding Brookshire.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4> of Brookshire.

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 Brookshire:

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 Brookshire, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brookshire) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.