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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 Purves (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 Purves. 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 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.

Purves is located in Erath 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 Erath County: Bosque, Comanche, Eastland, Hamilton, Hood, Palo Pinto & Somervell.

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

  • Erath County     (The home county of Purves)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purves, with the one closest to Purves listed first.
    • Alexander
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Alexander is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
    • Dublin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Harbin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Harbin is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbin
    • Clairette
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Clairette is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clairette
    • Bunyan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Bunyan is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunyan
    • Duffau
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Duffau is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duffau
    • Stephenville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Lingleville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Chalk Mountain
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Chalk Mountain is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk Mountain
    • Hannibal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Hannibal is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
    • Morgan Mill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Bluff Dale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bosque County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purves, with the one closest to Purves listed first.
    • Iredell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Walnut Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Cranfills Gap
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purves, with the one closest to Purves listed first.
    • Wilson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Wilson is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Ararat ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Ararat is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
    • Proctor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Comyn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Comyn is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comyn
    • Gustine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • De Leon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Energy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Comanche
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Newburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Newburg is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
    • Rucker
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Rucker is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
    • Duster
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
    • Sidney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Eastland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purves, with the one closest to Purves listed first.
    • Desdemona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Gorman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Purves, with the one closest to Purves listed first.
    • Carlton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Spurlin ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Spurlin is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spurlin
    • Hico
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Hico is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,437 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hico <1>
    • Agee ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Agee is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agee
    • Hamilton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pottsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Lanham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Lanham is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanham
    • Whiteway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Whiteway is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteway
      • Whiteway has also been known as:
      • White Way
  • Hood County
  • Mills County
  • Somervell County
    • Glass
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Glass is located in Somervell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass

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

Cemeteries Near Purves ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Purves.

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

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

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

  • Pecan Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Live Oak Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Caudle Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Hancock Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Barbee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Turnbow Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Heavenly Branch Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Old Dublin Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Midway Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Altman Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Live Oak Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Carlton Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (125 more) ...
    • Bowman Ridge Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Miller Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Clairette Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)

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 Purves in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Purves.

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

  • Wilson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Wilson is located in Comanche County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
  • Alexander
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Alexander is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
  • Dublin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Harbin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Harbin is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbin
  • Carlton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Hazeldell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hazeldell is located in Comanche County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazeldell
  • Proctor
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Lamkin
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Lamkin is located in Comanche County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamkin
  • Bunyan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bunyan is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunyan
  • Gustine
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Selden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Selden is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selden
  • Gentrys Mill
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Gentrys Mill is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentrys Mill
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Hico
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Hico is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,437 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hico <1>
    • Highland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Highland is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
    • Duffau
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Duffau is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duffau

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

Newspapers Published in Purves ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Purves.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Purves, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Purves.

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 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 Purves:

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 Purves, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Purves) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.