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 Francis (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 Francis. 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/Parishes ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.
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/parishes 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/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Francis is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Calcasieu (LA), Cameron (LA), Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson & Newton.
Below are the counties/parishes that are near Francis. For each of these counties/parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Francis:
- Orange County (The home county of Francis)
- The following are listed by their distance from Francis, with the one closest to Francis listed first.
- Pinehurst
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Pinehurst is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,959 people
- West Orange
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Orange
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Orangefield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bridge City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lemonville ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lemonville is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemonville
- Terry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Terry is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Mauriceville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Texla
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Texla is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texla
- Vidor
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Pine Forest
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Forest is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest
- Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
- Pine Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Grove is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
- Rose City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Rose City is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 489 people
- Hardin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Francis, with the one closest to Francis listed first.
- Loeb
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Loeb is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loeb
- Rose Hill Acres
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Rose Hill Acres is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 435 people
- Lumberton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Silsbee
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jasper County
- The following are listed by their distance from Francis, with the one closest to Francis listed first.
- Bunker Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Bunker Hill is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
- Evadale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Buna
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Francis, with the one closest to Francis listed first.
- Groves
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Port Neches
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Central Gardens
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Central Gardens is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Gardens
- Nederland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Port Arthur
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Higgins
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Higgins is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higgins
- Port Acres
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Beaumont
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Sabine Pass
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Amelia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Amelia is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Taylor Landing
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Taylor Landing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Landing
- Population from the 2020 Census: 237 people
- Voth
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- La Belle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- La Belle is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Belle
- Newton County
- Deweyville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Beauregard Parish (LA)
- Helme
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Helme is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
- Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Francis, with the one closest to Francis listed first.
- Vinton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
- Starks
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Edgerly
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
- Carlyss
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Carlyss is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlyss
- Sulphur
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Prien
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Prien is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prien
- Cameron Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Francis, with the one closest to Francis listed first.
- Hackberry
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Grand Lake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Grand Lake is located in Cameron Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Francis, see our County-by-County Page for Francis.
Cemeteries Near Francis ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Francis.
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 Francis - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Francis covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Francis, with the one closest to Francis listed first.
- Forest Lawn Memorial Park
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jett Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Hebrew Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hollywood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dorman Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Winfree Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Granger Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Parish Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wilkinson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Continue List (67 more) ...
- Bland Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Williams Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Comier Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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 Francis in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Francis.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Francis, with the one closest to Francis listed first.
- Orange
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Tulane
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Tulane is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulane
- Echo
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Echo is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- Terry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Terry is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Vinton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
- Edgerly
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
- Beaumont
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Johnsons Bayou
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Johnsons Bayou is located in Cameron Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsons Bayou
- Rosedale
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Rosedale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
- Sabine Pass
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Amelia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Amelia is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Hackberry
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- La Belle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- La Belle is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Belle
- Pine Island
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Island is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Francis. See our List of 1890's Communities around Francis.
Newspapers Published in Francis ...
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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Francis.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Francis, 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 Francis.
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 Francis:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Orange County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hardin County
- Jasper County
- Jefferson County
- Newton County
- Beauregard Parish
- Calcasieu Parish
- Cameron Parish
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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 Francis, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Francis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |