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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 Williams (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 Williams. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Williams is located in Colusa County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Colusa County: Butte, Glenn, Lake, Sutter & Yolo.

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

  • Colusa County     (The home county of Williams)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Genevra
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genevra have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genevra
      • Genevra is located in Colusa County
    • Maxwell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Colusa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Colusa Rancheria
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colusa Rancheria
      • Colusa Rancheria is located in Colusa County
    • Arbuckle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • College City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Grimes
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Sites
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sites
      • Sites is located in Colusa County
    • Harrington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrington
      • Harrington is located in Colusa County
    • Leesville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesville
      • Leesville is located in Colusa County
    • Wilbur Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Princeton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Butte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Gridley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Bigg's
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Peachton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peachton
      • Peachton is located in Butte County
  • Glenn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Afton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton
      • Afton is located in Glenn County
    • Butte City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Willows
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Glenn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Hough Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hough Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hough Springs
      • Hough Springs is located in Lake County
    • Pole Garden ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pole Garden
      • Pole Garden is located in Lake County
    • Clearlake Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Clearlake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lower Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bartlett Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bartlett Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett Springs
      • Bartlett Springs is located in Lake County
    • Clearlake Oaks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Santa Cruz County
  • Sutter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Meridian
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Tarke
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarke
      • Tarke is located in Sutter County
    • Sutter
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Pennington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
      • Pennington is located in Sutter County
    • Tierra Buena
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tierra Buena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Buena
      • Tierra Buena is located in Sutter County
    • Live Oak
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Live Oak
      • Live Oak is located in Sutter County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,048 people
    • South Yuba City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Yuba City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Yuba City
      • South Yuba City is located in Sutter County
    • Bogue
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
      • Bogue is located in Sutter County
    • Yuba City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Robbins
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Yolo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Hershey
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hershey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hershey
      • Hershey is located in Yolo County
    • Rumsey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Dunnigan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Guinda
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Brooks
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Zamora
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
    • Binney Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binney Junction
      • Binney Junction is located in Yuba County
    • Marysville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Alicia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alicia
      • Alicia is located in Yuba County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Williams ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williams.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Williams. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Williams and those printed in the larger area surrounding Williams.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Williams.

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 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 Williams:

Cemeteries Near Williams ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williams.

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 Williams covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Williams Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Maxwell Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maxwell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maxwell Cemetery
  • Arbuckle Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Arbuckle Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Arbuckle.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Arbuckle Cemetery
  • Arbuckle Catholic Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Grand Island Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grand Island Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grand Island Cemetery
  • Meridian Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meridian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meridian Cemetery
  • Sites Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Johns Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johns Cemetery
  • Stohlman Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Stohlman Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Tarke.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stohlman Cemetery
  • Princeton Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Pryor Grave
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pryor Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pryor Grave
  • Pugh Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pugh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pugh Cemetery
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • North Butte Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Butte Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Butte Cemetery
    • Marvin Chapel Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sutter Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Williams had a population of 461 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Williams had a population of 5,400 people.

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

  • Genevra
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genevra have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genevra
    • Genevra is located in Colusa County
  • Lurline ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lurline have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lurline
    • Lurline is located in Colusa County
  • Maxwell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Colusa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Arbuckle
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sycamore
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sycamore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
    • Sycamore is located in Colusa County
  • College City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Meridian
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Harrington
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrington
    • Harrington is located in Colusa County
  • Grimes
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Sites
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sites
    • Sites is located in Colusa County
  • Leesville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesville
    • Leesville is located in Colusa County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Grand Island
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Island
      • Grand Island is located in Colusa County
    • Norman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norman
      • Norman is located in Glenn County
    • Rumsey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)

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

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

The official website for Colusa County: www.colusacountyclerk.com/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Williams) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Williams. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1555, Longitude: -122.1475    
<4>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.
<5>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 Williams, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024