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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 Smiths 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 Smiths 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 Smiths 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 Smiths Ferry: Smiths Fry. (or less commonly used: Smiths Frry.)
  • While the name of this community is Smiths Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Smiths Ferry may originally have been Smith's Ferry.

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

Smiths Ferry is located in Valley County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Valley County: Adams, Boise, Custer, Gem & Idaho.

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

  • Valley County     (The home county of Smiths Ferry)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
    • Belvidere
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvidere
      • Belvidere is located in Valley County
    • Cascade
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cascade have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
      • Cascade is located in Valley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,053 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cascade <3>
    • Donnelly
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donnelly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnelly
      • Donnelly is located in Valley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Donnelly <3>
    • Roseberry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseberry
      • Roseberry is located in Valley County
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
    • Indian Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Valley
      • Indian Valley is located in Adams County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Indian Valley <3>
    • Mesa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mesa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesa
      • Mesa is located in Adams County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesa <3>
  • Boise County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
    • Crouch
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crouch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crouch
      • Crouch is located in Boise County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
    • Banks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Banks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
      • Banks is located in Boise County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Banks <3>
    • Garden Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Brownlee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownlee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee
      • Brownlee is located in Boise County
    • Grimes Pass
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grimes Pass
      • Grimes Pass is located in Boise County
    • Placerville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Horseshoe Bend
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horseshoe Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Bend
      • Horseshoe Bend is located in Boise County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Horseshoe Bend <3>
    • Lowman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lowman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowman
      • Lowman is located in Boise County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lowman <3>
  • Gem County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Ferry, with the one closest to Smiths Ferry listed first.
    • Ola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
      • Ola is located in Gem County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ola <3>
    • Sweet
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Montour
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montour have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montour
      • Montour is located in Gem County

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

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 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 Smiths Ferry:

Cemeteries Near Smiths Ferry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smiths 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 Smiths Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Alpha Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alpha Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alpha Cemetery
  • Ola Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Garden Valley Pioneer Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garden Valley Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garden Valley Pioneer Cemetery
  • Brownlee Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Grimes Pass Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Indian Valley Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Sweet Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sweet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sweet Cemetery
  • Sweet-Montour Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Homes Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Homes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Homes Cemetery
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the IOOF Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • Old Catholic Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Miner Grave
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miner Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miner Grave

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.<7>

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

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

  • Ola
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
    • Ola is located in Gem County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ola <3>
  • Garden Valley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Crane ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crane have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
    • Crane is located in Washington County
  • Quartzburg
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quartzburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quartzburg
    • Quartzburg is located in Boise County
  • Sweet
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Placerville
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Pioneerville
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pioneerville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneerville
    • Pioneerville is located in Boise County
  • Horseshoe Bend
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horseshoe Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Bend
    • Horseshoe Bend is located in Boise County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Horseshoe Bend <3>

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

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

The official website for State of Idaho: www.state.id.us/

Footnotes ...

<1>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).
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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- Smiths Ferry) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Smiths Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3013, Longitude: -116.0896       In this case, the coordinates for Smiths Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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.
<7>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 Smiths Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024