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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 Lancaster (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 Lancaster. 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.

Lancaster is located in Suwannee County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Suwannee County: Columbia, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette & Madison.

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

  • Suwannee County     (The home county of Lancaster)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Dowling Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Dowling Park is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowling Park
    • Live Oak
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Padlock
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Padlock is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padlock
    • Rixford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rixford is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rixford
    • McAlpin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • O'Brien
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Wellborn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Branford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Marion
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Marion is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
    • Jasper
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Jennings
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • White Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Bakers Mill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Bakers Mill is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakers Mill
  • Lafayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Day
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Buckville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Buckville is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckville
    • Mayo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Mayo is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,289 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayo <1>
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Lee
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Lee is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 333 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee <1>
    • Madison
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pinetta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Leland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Leland is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
    • Cherry Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Cherry Lake is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Lake
    • Greenville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hamburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Hamburg is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
  • Taylor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Perry
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Shady Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Salem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Brooks County (GA)
    • McIntyre Spring ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • McIntyre Spring is located in Brooks County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntyre Spring
      • Estimated population in 2019: 605 people
  • Lowndes County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Melrose
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Melrose is located in Lowndes County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
    • Lake Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Lancaster ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lancaster.

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

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

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

  • Mims Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Orange Baptist Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Winquepin Pond Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • The Winquepin Pond Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winquepin Pond Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Winquepin Pond Cemetery is located 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the southeast of Madison.
    • The Winquepin Pond Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Winquepin Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72772 <3>
  • Roger Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Day Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Day Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Day.
    • The Day Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Brewer Lake Baptist Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1864188 <3>
  • St. Luke Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Stroud Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Head Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Dees Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Claywood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Ivey Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Old Columbus Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (119 more) ...
    • Dean Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Drew Family Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Mt. Willing Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 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 Lancaster in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lancaster.

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

  • Luraville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Luraville is located in Suwannee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luraville
  • Mayo
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Mayo is located in Lafayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,289 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayo <1>
  • Lee
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lee is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 333 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee <1>
  • Live Oak
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Padlock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Padlock is located in Suwannee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padlock
  • McAlpin
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Rixford
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rixford is located in Suwannee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rixford
  • Houston
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Houston is located in Suwannee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
  • Madison
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Marion
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Marion is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
  • O'Brien
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Wellborn
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Octahatchee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Octahatchee is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Octahatchee
    • Jasper
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Perry
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Lancaster ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lancaster.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lancaster, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lancaster.

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 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 Lancaster:

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 'straight-line' (or 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- Lancaster) 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 Lancaster, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.