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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 Chaney (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 Chaney. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Chaney 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 Chaney. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Chaney:

  • Eastland County     (The home county of Chaney)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaney, with the one closest to Chaney listed first.
    • Desdemona
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Kokomo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Kokomo is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokomo
    • Olden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Ranger
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Gorman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Eastland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Carbon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Mangum ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Mangum is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mangum
    • Cisco
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • Okra
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Okra is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okra
    • Nimrod ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
    • Rising Star
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaney, with the one closest to Chaney listed first.
    • Rucker
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Rucker is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
    • De Leon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Duster
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
    • Comyn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Comyn is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comyn
    • Sipe Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
    • Proctor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sidney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Erath County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaney, with the one closest to Chaney listed first.
    • Thurber
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Hannibal
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Hannibal is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
    • Lingleville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bunyan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Bunyan is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunyan
    • Dublin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Morgan Mill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Stephenville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Harbin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Harbin is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbin
  • Palo Pinto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaney, with the one closest to Chaney listed first.
    • Strawn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mingus
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gordon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Santo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaney, with the one closest to Chaney listed first.
    • La Casa ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • La Casa is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Casa
    • Gunsight ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Gunsight is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunsight
    • Wayland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Wayland is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland
    • Necessity
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Necessity is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Necessity
    • Caddo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Eureka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Eureka is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka

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

Cemeteries Near Chaney ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chaney.

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

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

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

  • Gregg Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Alameda Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Cook Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cross Bend Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Fredom Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Simpson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Howard Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Davidson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Providence Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Ellison Spring Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • School Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (117 more) ...
    • Old School Hill Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Tudor Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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.<2>

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

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

  • Desdemona
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Ranger
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Olden
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Tiffin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Tiffin is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiffin
  • Gorman
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Eastland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Carbon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Victor
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Victor is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victor
  • Strawn
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Thurber
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • La Casa ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • La Casa is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Casa
  • Lingleville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Hannibal
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Hannibal is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
    • Highland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Highland is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
    • Duster
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster

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

Newspapers Published in Chaney ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chaney.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chaney, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chaney.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Chaney:

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 Chaney, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Chaney) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.