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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 Shields (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 Shields. 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 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.

Shields is located in Coleman 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 Coleman County: Brown, Callahan, Concho, McCulloch, Runnels & Taylor.

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

  • Coleman County     (The home county of Shields)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
    • Gouldbusk
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Rockwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Voss
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Whon ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Whon is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whon
    • Trickham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Trickham is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
      • Former name for Trickham:
      • Trick'em
    • Santa Anna
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Valera
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Coleman
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Talpa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Glen Cove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
    • Novice
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Burkett
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
    • Brookesmith
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Bangs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Fry is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
    • Keys Crossing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Keys Crossing is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Crossing
    • Indian Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
    • Brownwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Early
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Lake Brownwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
    • Ricker ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Ricker is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
  • Concho County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
    • Millersview
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Paint Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • McCulloch County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
    • Waldrip
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Waldrip is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldrip
    • Doole ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Doole is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doole
    • Lohn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Pear Valley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Milburn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Milburn is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
    • Salt Gap ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Salt Gap is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Gap
    • Melvin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Rochelle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • San Saba County
    • Holt ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Holt is located in San Saba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt

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

Cemeteries Near Shields ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shields.

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

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

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

  • Stewardson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Brown Ranch Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Voss Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Chaffin Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Whon Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Five Ashes Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Valera Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Marion Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Fife Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Old Valera Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Leaday Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (47 more) ...
    • Rice Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rice Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the west of Brookesmith.
    • Coleman Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Winchell Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Rockwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Waldrip
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Waldrip is located in McCulloch County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldrip
  • Trickham
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Trickham is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
    • Former name for Trickham:
    • Trick'em
  • Santa Anna
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Valera
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Coleman
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Bangs
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Milburn
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Milburn is located in McCulloch County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
  • Talpa
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Thrifty
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Thrifty is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrifty
  • Glen Cove
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
  • Silver Valley
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Silver Valley is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Valley
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Indian Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
    • Brownwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Rochelle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Shields ...

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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shields.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shields, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shields.

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 Shields:

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>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- Shields) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Shields, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.