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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Martins Ferry. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Martins Ferry to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Martins Ferry, please Contact Us.

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 Martins Ferry (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 Martins Ferry. 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.

Name Variations for Martins Ferry ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Martins Ferry: Martins Fry. (or less commonly used: Martins Frry.)
  • While the name of this community is Martins Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<2>. So Martins Ferry may originally have been Martin's Ferry.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Martins Ferry might be written as Martin Ferry.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 and 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Martins Ferry is historic, it would have been located within present day Humboldt 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 Humboldt County: Del Norte, Mendocino, Siskiyou & Trinity.

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

  • Humboldt County     (The home county of Martins Ferry)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Martins Ferry, with the one closest to Martins Ferry listed first.
    • Atsepar ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Atsepar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atsepar
      • Atsepar is located in Humboldt County
    • Weitchpec
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weitchpec
      • Weitchpec is located in Humboldt County
    • Johnsons
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsons
      • Johnsons is located in Humboldt County
    • Hoopa
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Orleans
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Orick
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Willow Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Trinidad
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Westhaven
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Blue Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Korbel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • McKinleyville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Alliance
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alliance
      • Alliance is located in Humboldt County
  • Del Norte County
  • Siskiyou County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Martins Ferry, with the one closest to Martins Ferry listed first.
    • Somes Bar
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Forks of Salmon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Martins Ferry, with the one closest to Martins Ferry listed first.
    • Salyer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Trinity Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trinity Village have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity Village
      • Trinity Village is located in Trinity County
    • Denny ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denny have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denny
      • Denny is located in Trinity County

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

Newspapers Published in Martins Ferry ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Martins Ferry.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Martins Ferry, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Martins Ferry.

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 websites either 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 Martins Ferry:

Cemeteries Near Martins Ferry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Martins Ferry.

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

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

  • Hoopa Tribal Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Johnsons Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Eloise Nelson Gateway Garden
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Trinidad Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Bennett Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bennett Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Bennett Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Forks of Salmon Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bennett Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7852 <7>
  • Orcutt Family Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • Aubrey Family Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)

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.

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

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

  • Weitchpec
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weitchpec
    • Weitchpec is located in Humboldt County
  • Orleans
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Orick
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Somes Bar
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinidad
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Forks of Salmon
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Blue Lake
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Korbel
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Denny ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denny have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denny
    • Denny is located in Trinity County
  • Arcata
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcata
    • Arcata is located in Humboldt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,044 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arcata <4>
  • Requa
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Requa have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Requa
    • Requa is located in Del Norte County
  • Bayside
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)

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

The official website for Humboldt County: www.co.humboldt.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Martins Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<3>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.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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- Martins Ferry) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Martins Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2082, Longitude: -123.7553       In this case, the coordinates for Martins Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024