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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 Italy (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 Italy. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

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

  • Ellis County     (The home county of Italy)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Italy, with the one closest to Italy listed first.
    • Avalon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Forreston
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Milford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Nash
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Nash is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash
    • Boz
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Boz is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boz
    • Howard
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Howard is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
    • Maypearl
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bardwell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Auburn
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Auburn is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
    • Waxahachie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Boyce
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Boyce is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyce
    • Sardis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Sardis is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis
    • Ike
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Ike is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ike
  • Dallas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Italy, with the one closest to Italy listed first.
    • Ovilla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Glenn Heights
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • DeSoto
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Ferris
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Lancaster
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Shamrock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Shamrock is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
    • Wilmer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Hill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Italy, with the one closest to Italy listed first.
    • Mertens
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Brandon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Carl's Corner
      (11 miles [17.7 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
    • Irene
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Lovelace
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lovelace is located in Hill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelace
    • Itasca
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Bynum
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Malone
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Hillsboro
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Chatt
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Chatt is located in Hill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatt
    • Covington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Penelope
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Abbott
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Italy, with the one closest to Italy listed first.
    • Grandview
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Parker
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Parker is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
    • Alvarado
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Cuba
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Cuba is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
    • Coyote Flats
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Coyote Flats is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coyote Flats
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 368 people
    • Lillian
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rio Vista
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Keene
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Keene is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,588 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keene <1>
    • Egan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Egan is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egan
  • McLennan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Italy, with the one closest to Italy listed first.
    • West
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • West is located in McLennan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,969 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West <1>
    • Tours
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Tours is located in McLennan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tours
  • Navarro County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Italy, with the one closest to Italy listed first.
    • Frost
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Blooming Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cryer Creek ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Cryer Creek is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cryer Creek
    • Barry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Dresden
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Dresden is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresden
    • Emhouse
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Emhouse is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emhouse
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
    • Navarro Mills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Navarro Mills is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navarro Mills
    • Silver City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Silver City is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • Spring Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Hill is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
    • Dawson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Purdon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rice
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Rice is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 983 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <1>
    • Oak Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Oak Valley is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people

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

Cemeteries Near Italy ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Italy.

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

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

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

  • Hughes Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Forreston Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Blanton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Blanton - Hooser Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Dean Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Glenwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Maloney Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bee Creek Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Frost Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Greathouse Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Austonia Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Berrys Chapel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (157 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Italy had a population of 370 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Italy had a population of 1,964 people.

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

  • Milford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Avalon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Nash
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Nash is located in Ellis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash
  • Boz
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Boz is located in Ellis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boz
  • Mertens
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Frost
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Brandon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Blooming Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Irene
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Cryer Creek ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Cryer Creek is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cryer Creek
  • Auburn
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Auburn is located in Ellis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
  • Emmett
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Emmett is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmett
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Waxahachie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Barry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Boyce
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Boyce is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyce

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Italy ...

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 91 newspapers that have been published in the area around Italy.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Italy. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Italy and those printed in the larger area surrounding Italy.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Italy.

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 either 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 Italy:

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 Italy, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Italy) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.