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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 Pledger (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 Pledger. 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 northwest 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 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.

Pledger is located in Matagorda 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 Matagorda County: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Jackson & Wharton.

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

  • Matagorda County     (The home county of Pledger)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pledger, with the one closest to Pledger listed first.
    • McCroskey
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • McCroskey is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCroskey
    • Chalmers
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Chalmers is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalmers
    • Van Vleck
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Bay City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Elliott ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
      • Elliott has also been known as:
      • Elliott's
    • Caney
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Caney is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney
    • Markham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Lane
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Wadsworth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Elmaton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Midfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Blessing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Brazoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pledger, with the one closest to Pledger listed first.
    • Danciger
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Old Ocean
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Damon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sweeny
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • West Columbia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • East Columbia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • East Columbia is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Columbia
    • Wild Peach Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Wild Peach Village is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Peach Village
    • Brazoria
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Holiday Lakes
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Holiday Lakes is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,225 people
    • Bailey's Prairie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Bailey's Prairie is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey's Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 777 people
    • Lochridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lochridge is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochridge
    • Chenango
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Chenango is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenango
  • Fort Bend County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pledger, with the one closest to Pledger listed first.
    • Four Corners
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Four Corners is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
    • Guy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Needville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Fairchilds
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairchilds is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairchilds
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,359 people
    • Kendleton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Beasley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Pleak
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Pleak is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleak
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,762 people
    • Powell Point
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Powell Point is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell Point
    • Rosenberg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Thompsons
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Cumings
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Cumings is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumings
    • Booth
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Wharton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pledger, with the one closest to Pledger listed first.
    • Newgulf
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Boling
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lane City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Wharton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mackay
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Mackay is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackay
    • Pierce
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Hungerford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Danevang
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Flora
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • El Campo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • East Bernard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Egypt
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Pledger ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pledger.

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

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

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

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 in 1895, Pledger had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Elliott ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
    • Elliott has also been known as:
    • Elliott's
  • Wharton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Caney
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Caney is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney
  • Mackay
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Mackay is located in Wharton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackay
  • Hungerford
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Kendleton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Brazoria
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • East Bernard
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Rosenberg
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Hinkles Ferry
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hinkles Ferry is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkles Ferry
  • Ashby
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Ashby is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
  • Chenango
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Chenango is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenango
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Thompsons
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Crabb
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Crabb is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crabb
    • Nottawa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Nottawa is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottawa

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

Newspapers Published in Pledger ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pledger.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pledger, 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 Pledger.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Pledger:

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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Pledger) 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 Pledger, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.