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 Bonnie (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 Bonnie. 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 and doctors 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.
Bonnie is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Franklin, Hamilton, Marion, Perry, Washington & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Bonnie. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bonnie:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Bonnie)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Ina
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- 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>
- Nason
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Dareville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Dareville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dareville
- Marcoe
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Marcoe is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcoe
- Mount Vernon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Opdyke
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fitzgerrell ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fitzgerrell is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzgerrell
- Waltonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Summersville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Summersville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summersville
- Emerson City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Emerson City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson City
- Belle Rive
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Marlow
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Marlow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Centralia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hoffman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Whittington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Ewing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Taylor Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Taylor Hill is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Hill
- Frisco
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Frisco is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
- Sesser
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Rend City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Rend City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rend City
- Benton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Steel City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Steel City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steel City
- West City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- West City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 626 people
- Valier
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Buckner
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Coello
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hamilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Dahlgren
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Lovilla
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Lovilla is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovilla
- Macedonia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Flint
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Flint is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
- Piopolis
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Piopolis is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piopolis
- Belle Prairie City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Belle Prairie City is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Prairie City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
- 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
- McLeansboro
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Jefferson City ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Jefferson City is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson City
- Dale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Walpole
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Walpole is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walpole
- Bungay
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Bungay is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bungay
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Dowell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elkville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hallidayboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hallidayboro is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallidayboro
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Kell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Walnut Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Hickory Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Hickory Hill is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
- Cartter
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Cartter is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartter
- Union Town
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Union Town is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Town
- Central City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Central City is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,107 people
- Bannister
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Bannister is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bannister
- Junction City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Junction City is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 468 people
- Iuka
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Odin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Salem
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Sandoval
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Tamaroa
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Sunfield
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sunfield is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunfield
- Saint Johns
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Johns is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Du Quoin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Du Quoin is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Du Quoin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,591 people
- Pinckneyville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Pyatts
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Pyatts is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pyatts
- Saline County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Cornerville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cornerville is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerville
- Long Branch
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Long Branch is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
- Galatia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Du Bois
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Du Bois is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Du Bois
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Radom
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Ashley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Richview
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Baldwin Heights
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Baldwin Heights is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin Heights
- Irvington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Posen
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Posen is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posen
- Wamac
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wamac is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wamac
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,117 people
- Hoyleton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Nashville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- New Minden
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- New Minden is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Minden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Keenes
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Wayne City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Sims
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Boyleston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Boyleston is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyleston
- Barnhill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Johnsonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- White County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Mill Shoals
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Springerton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Williamson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Freeman Spur
(24 miles [38.6 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
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Stiritz is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stiritz
- Herrin Junction ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Herrin Junction is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrin Junction
- Johnston City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Corinth
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Corinth is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
- Bush
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bush is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
- Herrin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Whiteash
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Whiteash is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteash
- Estimated population in 2014: 240 people
- Hurst
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Colp
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- 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>
- Pittsburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Blairsville
(29 miles [46.7 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 Bonnie, see our County-by-County Page for Bonnie.
Cemeteries Near Bonnie ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bonnie.
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 Bonnie - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bonnie covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Kirk Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Knowles Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Round Knob Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Cub Prairie Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Mason Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Fitzgerrell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Carroll Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- McKinney Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- South Hickory Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hickory Hill Cemetery
- The South Hickory Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
- Hickory Hill Cemetery
- South Hickory Hill Christian Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108327 <2>
- Abner Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Smith Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Arnold Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (449 more) ...
- Hope Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Grothoff Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Wolf Prairie Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
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>
While we didn't find Bonnie in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bonnie.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bonnie, with the one closest to Bonnie listed first.
- Spring Garden
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Garden is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
- Fitzgerrell ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fitzgerrell is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzgerrell
- Opdyke
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Vernon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Ewing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Taylor Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Taylor Hill is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Hill
- Drivers
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Drivers is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drivers
- Belle Rive
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Marlow
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Marlow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow
- Dahlgren
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Bluford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Roaches
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Roaches is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaches
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Idlewood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Idlewood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewood
- Benton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Boyd
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Boyd is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bonnie. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bonnie.
Newspapers Published in Bonnie ...
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 89 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bonnie.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bonnie, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bonnie.
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 Bonnie:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clinton County
- Franklin County
- Hamilton County
- Jackson County
- Marion County
- Perry County
- Saline County
- Washington County
- Wayne County
- White 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> | 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 Bonnie, 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 from Point A (ie- Bonnie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |