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 Benton (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 Benton. 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 Benton ...
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.
In past government published Postal Guides, Benton was referred to as Benton Courthouse.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Benton. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Benton.
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.
For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.
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 doctors and 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.
Benton is located in Franklin County and is the County Seat.
To see how the shape of Illinois' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Franklin County: Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, Saline & Williamson.
Below are the counties that are near Benton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Benton:
- Franklin County (The home county of Benton)
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- West City
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- West City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 626 people
- Steel City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Steel City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steel City
- Rend City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Rend City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rend City
- Whittington
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Hanaford
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hanaford is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanaford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
- Smothersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Smothersville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smothersville
- Buckner
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Ewing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Deering City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Deering City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deering City
- Valier
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Orient
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Christopher
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Hamilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Macedonia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Flint
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Flint is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
- Lovilla
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lovilla is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovilla
- Dahlgren
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Diamond City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Diamond City is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
- Walpole
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Walpole is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walpole
- McLeansboro
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Piopolis
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Piopolis is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piopolis
- Dale
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Belle Prairie City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Belle Prairie City is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Prairie City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
- Broughton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Jefferson City ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Jefferson City is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson City
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Dowell
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Elkville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Hallidayboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Hallidayboro is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallidayboro
- De Soto
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Vergennes
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Carbondale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Oraville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Murphysboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Ina
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Ina is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ina
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,279 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ina <1>
- Fitzgerrell ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Fitzgerrell is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzgerrell
- Nason
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Emerson City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Emerson City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson City
- Bonnie
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Dareville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Dareville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dareville
- Scheller
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Waltonville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Marcoe
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Marcoe is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcoe
- Opdyke
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Belle Rive
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Vernon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Eagle Point Bay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Eagle Point Bay is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Point Bay
- Egyptian Hills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Egyptian Hills is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egyptian Hills
- Deer Ridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Deer Ridge is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Ridge
- New Burnside
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Du Quoin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Du Quoin is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Du Quoin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,591 people
- Saint Johns
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Saint Johns is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Sunfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Sunfield is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunfield
- Tamaroa
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Pyatts
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Pyatts is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pyatts
- Pinckneyville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Conant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Conant is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conant
- Saline County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Cornerville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cornerville is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerville
- Galatia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Long Branch
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Long Branch is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
- Raleigh
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Buena Vista
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Buena Vista is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Carrier Mills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Carrier Mills is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrier Mills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,527 people
- Former names for Carrier Mills:
- Carriers Mills
- Morrilsville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carrier Mills <1>
- Harrisburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ledford
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ledford is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledford
- Liberty
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Liberty is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Muddy
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Gaskins City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gaskins City is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaskins City
- Wasson
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Wasson is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasson
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Du Bois
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Du Bois is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Du Bois
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Radom
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Ashley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Posen
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Posen is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posen
- Richview
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Keenes
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wayne City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Williamson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Freeman Spur
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Freeman Spur is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Spur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
- Freeman Spur has also been known as:
- Freeman Spur village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeman Spur <1>
- Stiritz
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Stiritz is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stiritz
- Herrin Junction ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Herrin Junction is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrin Junction
- Johnston City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Herrin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Whiteash
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Whiteash is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteash
- Estimated population in 2014: 240 people
- Corinth
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Corinth is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
- Pittsburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Spillertown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Spillertown is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spillertown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
- Bush
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bush is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
- Colp
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Colp is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colp
- Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
- Former name for Colp:
- Colpville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colp <1>
- Blairsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Blairsville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Benton, see our County-by-County Page for Benton.
Cemeteries Near Benton ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Benton.
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 Benton - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Benton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Memorial Park
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Drummond Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Wayman Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Browning Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Moser Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Masonic - Oddfellow Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Rea Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- County Farm Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- New Union Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Browning Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Franklin Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (475 more) ...
- Hickory Corners Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Baxter Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Benton had a population of 939 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Benton had a population of 6,784 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Buckner
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Smothersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Smothersville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smothersville
- Ewing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Christopher
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Frankfort
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Frankfort is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
- Parrish
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Parrish is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrish
- Plumfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Plumfield is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
- Akin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Taylor Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Taylor Hill is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Hill
- Mulkeytown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Fitt's Hill ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fitt's Hill is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitt's Hill
- Thompsonville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Fitzgerrell ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Fitzgerrell is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzgerrell
- Macedonia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Spring Garden
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Spring Garden is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Benton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Benton.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Benton ...
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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Benton.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Benton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Benton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Benton.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3> of Benton.
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 Benton:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Franklin County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hamilton County
- Jackson County
- Jefferson County
- Johnson County
- Perry County
- Saline County
- Washington County
- Wayne County
- Williamson County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Illinois
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> | 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 Benton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 from Point A (ie- Benton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |