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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 Swenson (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 Swenson. 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 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.

Swenson is located in Stonewall County.

To see how the shape of Texas' counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Stonewall County: Dickens, Fisher, Haskell, Jones, Kent, King & Knox.

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

  • Stonewall County     (The home county of Swenson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swenson, with the one closest to Swenson listed first.
    • Aspermont
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Double Mountain
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Double Mountain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Mountain
      • Double Mountain is located in Stonewall County
    • Old Glory
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Flat Top
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Top
      • Flat Top is located in Stonewall County
  • Fisher County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swenson, with the one closest to Swenson listed first.
    • Hamlin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamlin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlin
      • Hamlin is located in Fisher County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,997 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hamlin <1>
    • Rotan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Royston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royston
      • Royston is located in Fisher County
    • McCaulley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McCaulley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCaulley
      • McCaulley is located in Fisher County
  • Haskell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swenson, with the one closest to Swenson listed first.
    • Jud ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jud have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jud
      • Jud is located in Haskell County
    • Sagerton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rule
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rule have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rule
      • Rule is located in Haskell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 611 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rule <1>
    • Rochester
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochester have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
      • Rochester is located in Haskell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochester <1>
    • O'Brien
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for O'Brien have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Brien
      • O'Brien is located in Haskell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for O'Brien <1>
  • Jones County
    • Tuxedo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuxedo
      • Tuxedo is located in Jones County
  • Kent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swenson, with the one closest to Swenson listed first.
    • Jayton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Girard
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Girard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard
      • Girard is located in Kent County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Girard <1>
    • Clairemont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clairemont
      • Clairemont is located in Kent County
  • King County
    • Guthrie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guthrie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthrie
      • Guthrie is located in King County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guthrie <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Swenson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swenson.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Shadle Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shadle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shadle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Aspermont Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aspermont Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Aspermont Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oriana Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oriana Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oriana Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brazos Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brazos Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brazos Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olive Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Steele Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Steele Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Steele Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spur Memorial Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spur Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spur Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Red Mud Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Mud Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Mud Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gilkerson Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilkerson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilkerson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rayner Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rayner Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rayner Cemetery is located between<4> the communities of Flat Top and Old Glory.  The cemetery lies 3 miles [4.8 km]<5> to the southwest of Old Glory.
  • Hooker Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hooker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hooker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Jayton Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jayton Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jayton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old Glory Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Glory Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Glory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Zion Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 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.<6>

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

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

  • Aspermont
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Double Mountain
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Double Mountain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Mountain
    • Double Mountain is located in Stonewall County
  • Jayton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Hitson
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hitson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitson
    • Hitson is located in Fisher County
  • Fisher
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisher have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Fisher is located in Fisher County
  • Guthrie
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guthrie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthrie
    • Guthrie is located in King County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guthrie <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Swenson ...

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 12 newspapers that have been published in the area around Swenson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swenson, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swenson.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Swenson:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Swenson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Flat Top and Old Glory. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Swenson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swenson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2070, Longitude: -100.3121       In this case, the coordinates for Swenson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Swenson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025