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 Halsell (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 Halsell. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Halsell is located in Clay 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 Clay County: Cotton (OK), Jefferson (OK), Archer, Jack, Montague & Wichita.
Below are the counties that are near Halsell. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Halsell:
- Clay County (The home county of Halsell)
- The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
- Bluegrove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jolly
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Jolly is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
- Henrietta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Joy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Joy is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy
- Dean
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Dean is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
- Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
- Shannon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Shannon is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon
- Bellevue
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Petrolia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Thornberry
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Thornberry is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
- Byers
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Newport
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Newport is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
- Archer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
- Scotland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Windthorst
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lakeside City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lakeside City is located in Archer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,008 people
- Archer City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Holliday
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Anarene ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Anarene is located in Archer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anarene
- Jack County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
- Antelope
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Antelope is located in Jack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
- Postoak
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Postoak is located in Jack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postoak
- Montague County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
- Ringgold
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Belcherville ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Belcherville is located in Montague County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belcherville
- Bowie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Wichita County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
- Wichita Falls
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Valley is located in Wichita County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
- Cashion Community
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Cashion Community is located in Wichita County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashion Community
- Population from the 2020 Census: 360 people
- Iowa Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Burkburnett
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Kamay
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Young County
- Farmer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Farmer is located in Young County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
- Jefferson County (OK)
- The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
- Terral
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fleetwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fleetwood is located in Jefferson County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleetwood
- Ryan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ryan is located in Jefferson County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ryan <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Halsell, see our County-by-County Page for Halsell.
Cemeteries Near Halsell ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Halsell.
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 Halsell - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Halsell covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
- Halsell Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- White Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Deer Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bluegrove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Creek Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- St. Mary Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Marys Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marys Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Windthorst.
- The St. Marys Cemetery has also been known as:
- Windhorst Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1703567 <2>
- Cullers Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Crestview Memorial Park
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cambridge Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Bowman Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (50 more) ...
- Kempner Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- The Kempner Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempner Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4600 <2>
- Friendship Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeview Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
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 Halsell in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Halsell.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
- Bluegrove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jolly
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Jolly is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
- Henrietta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wichita Falls
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Archer City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Antelope
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Antelope is located in Jack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
- Bellevue
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Hurnville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hurnville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurnville
- Postoak
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Postoak is located in Jack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postoak
- Holliday
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Thornberry
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Thornberry is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
- Markley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Markley is located in Young County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markley
- Continue List (5 more) ...
- Newport
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Newport is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
- Iowa Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Charlie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Charlie is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlie
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Halsell. See our List of 1890's Communities around Halsell.
Newspapers Published in Halsell ...
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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Halsell.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Halsell, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Halsell.
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 Halsell:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Clay County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Archer County
- Jack County
- Montague County
- Wichita County
- Young County
- Jefferson County
- 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> | 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Halsell) 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 Halsell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |