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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 Benville (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 Benville. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Benville is located in Brown County.

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 Brown County: Adams, Cass, Morgan, Pike & Schuyler.

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

  • Brown County     (The home county of Benville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Hersman
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Hersman is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hersman
    • Mound Station
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Mound Station is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound Station
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Timewell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Gilbirds
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Gilbirds is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbirds
    • Mount Sterling
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Versailles
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Cooperstown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Cooperstown is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooperstown
    • Ripley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Ripley is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Kellerville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Kellerville is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellerville
    • Beverly
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Beverly is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
    • Clayton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Blacks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Blacks is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blacks
    • Camp Point
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Columbus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Columbus is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
    • Adams
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Adams is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
    • Plainville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Golden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Coatsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • La Prairie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Burton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Burton is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burton
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Hagener
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Hagener is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagener
    • Beardstown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Arenzville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Oak Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Oak Grove is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Bluff Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Hancock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Augusta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Bowen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Chili
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Chili is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chili
    • Plymouth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • McDonough County
    • Doddsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Doddsville is located in McDonough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doddsville
  • Morgan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Meredosia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Morgan City ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Morgan City is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan City
    • Chapin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Concord
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Lynnville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Lynnville is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 113 people
  • Pike County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Perry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Baylis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • New Salem
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • New Salem is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
    • Chambersburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Hadley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Hadley is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley
    • Griggsville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Barry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Valley City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Valley City is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14 people
    • El Dara
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Pittsfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Kinderhook
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Detroit
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Detroit is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Detroit
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 81 people
    • New Canton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • New Canton is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Canton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
  • Schuyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Camden
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Huntsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Rushville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Wayland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Wayland is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland
    • Frederick
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Littleton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Naples
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bluffs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Oxville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Oxville is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxville
    • Exeter
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Exeter is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
    • Winchester
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Glasgow
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Glasgow is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
  • Marion County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Cave City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Cave City is located in Marion County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave City
    • Hannibal
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Hannibal is located in Marion County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,246 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hannibal <1>
    • Oakwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Oakwood is located in Marion County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
    • Helton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Helton is located in Marion County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helton
  • Pike County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benville, with the one closest to Benville listed first.
    • Ashburn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Ashburn is located in Pike County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashburn
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 52 people
    • Louisiana
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Ralls County (MO)
    • Saverton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Saverton is located in Ralls County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saverton

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

Cemeteries Near Benville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Benville.

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

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

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

  • Benville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • DeHart Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Bixler Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Seaborn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Butler Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Bowman Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Kurfman Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Morrelville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Dobey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Burden Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Linn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (558 more) ...
    • Mixer Family Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Brower Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Stoner 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Benville had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • White Oak Springs ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • White Oak Springs is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak Springs
  • Morrelville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Morrelville is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrelville
  • Siloam
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Siloam is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
  • Fishhook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fishhook is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishhook
  • Chestline
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Chestline is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestline
  • Buckhorn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Buckhorn is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
  • Kellerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kellerville is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellerville
  • Fargo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Fargo is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fargo
  • Perry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Hersman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hersman is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hersman
  • Baylis
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Gilbirds
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilbirds is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbirds
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Mound Station
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Mound Station is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound Station
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Mount Sterling
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Maysville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Maysville is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville

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

Newspapers Published in Benville ...

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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Benville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Benville, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Benville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Benville:

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>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 Benville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Benville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.