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 Sams (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 Sams. 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.
Sams is located in San Miguel County.
To see how the shape of Colorado's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of San Miguel County: Dolores, Montrose, Ouray, San Juan & San Juan (UT).
Below are the counties that are near Sams. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sams:
- San Miguel County (The home county of Sams)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sams, with the one closest to Sams listed first.
- Leonard ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Leonard is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
- Sawpit
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sawpit is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawpit
- Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
- Sawpit has also been known as:
- Saw Pit
- Placerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Vanadium ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Vanadium is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanadium
- Keystone ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Keystone is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
- Ilium
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Ilium is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ilium
- Vance Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Vance Junction is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance Junction
- Mountain Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- San Miguel ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- San Miguel is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Miguel
- Liberty Bell ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Liberty Bell is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Bell
- Pandora
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Pandora is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pandora
- Telluride
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Dolores County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sams, with the one closest to Sams listed first.
- Dunton ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Dunton is located in Dolores County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunton
- Rico
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Hinsdale County
- Capitol City ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Capitol City is located in Hinsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitol City
- Montrose County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sams, with the one closest to Sams listed first.
- Ute
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ute is located in Montrose County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ute
- Uncompahgre
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Uncompahgre is located in Montrose County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uncompahgre
- Vernal
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Vernal is located in Montrose County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernal
- Redvale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Montrose
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Pinon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pinon is located in Montrose County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinon
- Ouray County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sams, with the one closest to Sams listed first.
- Ridgway
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Loghill Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Loghill Village is located in Ouray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loghill Village
- Dallas
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas is located in Ouray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Ouray
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Eldredge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Eldredge is located in Ouray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldredge
- Colona
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Colona is located in Ouray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colona
- Red Mountain ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Red Mountain is located in Ouray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mountain
- San Juan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sams, with the one closest to Sams listed first.
- Chattanooga ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Chattanooga is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattanooga
- Animas Forks ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Animas Forks is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Animas Forks
- Silverton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Eureka ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Eureka is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Graysill ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Graysill is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graysill
- Howardsville ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Howardsville is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardsville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sams, see our County-by-County Page for Sams.
Cemeteries Near Sams ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sams.
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 Sams - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sams covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sams, with the one closest to Sams listed first.
- Dallas Park Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas Park Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Hill Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Lone Tree Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lone Tree Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Colona Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Norwood Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Norwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the east of Norwood.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #57462 <2>
- Button Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Uncompahgre Memorial Gardens
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Coventry Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Grandview Cemetery
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Hillside Cemetery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Cemetery
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Rico Cemetery
(29 miles [46.7 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.<4>
While we didn't find Sams in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sams.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sams, with the one closest to Sams listed first.
- Leonard ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Leonard is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
- Placerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ridgway
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Ilium
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Ilium is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ilium
- Vance Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Vance Junction is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance Junction
- San Miguel ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- San Miguel is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Miguel
- Dallas
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas is located in Ouray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Telluride
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Pandora
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Pandora is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pandora
- Portland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Portland is located in Ouray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
- Ames ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Ames is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
- Ouray
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Ophir
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Norwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Red Mountain ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Red Mountain is located in Ouray County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mountain
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sams. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sams.
Newspapers Published in Sams ...
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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sams.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sams, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sams.
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 Sams:
- Websites specific to Colorado
- Pages specific to San Miguel County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Dolores County
- Hinsdale County
- Montrose County
- Ouray County
- San Juan County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Colorado
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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sams) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Sams, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |