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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Ivan (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 Ivan. 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 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.

Ivan is located in Stephens 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 Stephens County: Callahan, Eastland, Palo Pinto, Shackelford, Throckmorton & Young.

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

  • Stephens County     (The home county of Ivan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ivan, with the one closest to Ivan listed first.
    • Caddo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Breckenridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Necessity
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Necessity is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Necessity
    • La Casa ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • La Casa is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Casa
    • Wayland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Wayland is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland
    • Eolian
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Eolian is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eolian
    • Gunsight ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Gunsight is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunsight
    • Eureka
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Eureka is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Eastland County
    • Ranger
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Jack County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ivan, with the one closest to Ivan listed first.
    • Bryson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bob Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bob Town is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bob Town
  • Palo Pinto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ivan, with the one closest to Ivan listed first.
    • Palo Pinto
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Strawn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Graford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Mingus
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gordon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Shackelford County
    • Fort Griffin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Fort Griffin is located in Shackelford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Griffin
  • Throckmorton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ivan, with the one closest to Ivan listed first.
    • Woodson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elbert
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Elbert is located in Throckmorton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbert
  • Young County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ivan, with the one closest to Ivan listed first.
    • Eliasville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Eliasville is located in Young County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eliasville
    • South Bend
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Bunger
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bunger is located in Young County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunger
    • Murray
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Murray is located in Young County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
    • Graham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Newcastle
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Proffitt
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Proffitt is located in Young County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proffitt
    • Loving
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Ivan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ivan.

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

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

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

  • Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • South Prairie Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Bee Branch Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Peveler Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Yellow Fork Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Eliasville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Veale Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Donnell Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Moon Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • South Bend Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Tyra Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (74 more) ...
    • Tonk Valley Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Picketville Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Caddo Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)

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>

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

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

  • Eliasville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Eliasville is located in Young County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eliasville
  • South Bend
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Caddo
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Breckenridge
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Murray
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Murray is located in Young County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
  • Graham
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Wayland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Wayland is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland
  • La Casa ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • La Casa is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Casa
  • Eolian
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Eolian is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eolian
  • Gunsight ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Gunsight is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunsight
  • Tiffin
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Tiffin is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiffin
  • Strawn
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Palo Pinto
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Ranger
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Bryson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Ivan ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ivan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ivan, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ivan.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Ivan:

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 Ivan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ivan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.