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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 Ennis (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 Ennis. 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 Ennis ...

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.

Another variation: Enis.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Ennis. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Ennis.

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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Ennis is located in Ellis 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 Ellis County: Dallas, Henderson, Hill, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro & Tarrant.

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

  • Ellis County     (The home county of Ennis)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ennis, with the one closest to Ennis listed first.
    • Garrett
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Garrett is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 891 people
    • Crisp
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Alma
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Alma is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Bardwell
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Palmer
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Telico
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Boyce
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Howard
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Bristol
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Ike
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Nash
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Avalon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Walnut Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Walnut Springs is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Springs
  • Dallas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ennis, with the one closest to Ennis listed first.
    • Ferris
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Wilmer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Combine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Glenn Heights
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lancaster
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ovilla
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hutchins
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Seagoville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • DeSoto
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kleberg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Shamrock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Shamrock is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
    • Lawson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Balch Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Henderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ennis, with the one closest to Ennis listed first.
    • Seven Points
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Tool
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Tool is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tool
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,335 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tool <1>
    • Gun Barrel City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Payne Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Payne Springs is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payne Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 756 people
    • Enchanted Oaks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Enchanted Oaks is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Oaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
  • Hill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ennis, with the one closest to Ennis listed first.
    • Mertens
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Brandon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Irene
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Carl's Corner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Carl's Corner is located in Hill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl's Corner
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
  • Kaufman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ennis, with the one closest to Ennis listed first.
    • Rosser
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cottonwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Cottonwood is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
    • Styx
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Grays Prairie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Grays Prairie is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 388 people
    • Scurry
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Stubbs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Tolosa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Crandall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Oak Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Oak Grove is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 704 people
    • Kemp
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Kaufman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Becker
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lone Star
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lone Star is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Navarro County

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

Cemeteries Near Ennis ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ennis.

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

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

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

  • Myrtle Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Crisp Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Templeton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Sanderson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bardwell Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Redwine Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Lucille Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Boren Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Grady Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Rice Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (144 more) ...
    • Palmer Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Maloney Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Hefley Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Ennis had a population of 2,171 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Ennis had a population of 20,678 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ennis ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ennis.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ennis. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ennis and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ennis.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<2> of Ennis.

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 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 Ennis:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Ennis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Ennis, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.