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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 Bradfordton (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 Bradfordton. 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.

Bradfordton is located in Sangamon 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 Sangamon County: Christian, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery & Morgan.

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

  • Sangamon County     (The home county of Bradfordton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • Jerome
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jerome is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
    • Leland Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Leland Grove is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,451 people
    • Ridgely
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Ridgely is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
    • Salisbury
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Salisbury is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
    • Curran
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Curran is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curran
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
    • Hawthorne Place
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Hawthorne Place is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawthorne Place
    • Springfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pasfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Pasfield is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasfield
    • Grandview
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Grandview is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,369 people
    • Southern View
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Southern View is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southern View
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
    • Woodside
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodside is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
    • Cantrall
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • Ashland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Gurney ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Gurney is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurney
    • Newmansville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Newmansville is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newmansville
    • Sylvan ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sylvan is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan
    • Philadelphia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Philadelphia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
    • Old Princeton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Old Princeton is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Princeton
    • Burlingame
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Burlingame is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlingame
    • Chandlerville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Virginia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jules
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jules is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jules
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • Bolivia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Bolivia is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolivia
    • Edinburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tovey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Tovey is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tovey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tovey <1>
    • Bulpitt
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Kincaid
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Zenobia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Zenobia is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenobia
    • Grove City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Grove City is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
    • Jeisyville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jeisyville is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeisyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Mount Auburn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Sharpsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sharpsburg is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
    • Langleyville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Langleyville is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langleyville
    • Clarksdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Clarksdale is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksdale
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • Cornland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Elkhart
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Middletown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Lake Fork
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Broadwell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Broadwell is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadwell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
    • New Holland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Mount Pulaski
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestervale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Chestervale is located in Logan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestervale
    • Lincoln
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Macon County
    • Niantic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Macoupin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • Virden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Girard
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Modesto
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Nilwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Palmyra
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Scottville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • Mason City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Kilbourne
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Teheran
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Teheran is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teheran
    • White City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • White City is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Easton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Menard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • Athens
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Tallula
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Petersburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Croft
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Croft is located in Menard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croft
    • Greenview
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Oakford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • White Oak
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • White Oak is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
    • Farmersville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Morgan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bradfordton, with the one closest to Bradfordton listed first.
    • Prentice
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Prentice is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prentice
    • Alexander
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Waverly
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Franklin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Arnold
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Arnold is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
    • Pisgah
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Pisgah is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisgah
    • Literberry
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Arcadia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Arcadia is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
    • Jacksonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • South Jacksonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • South Jacksonville is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Jacksonville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,075 people
    • Woodson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Bradfordton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bradfordton.

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

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

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

  • Old Salem Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • McKinnie Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Morgan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Crowder Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Farmington Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Lincoln Tomb
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Springfield.
    • The Calvary Cemetery has also been known as:
    • German Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #104996 <2>
  • Salisbury Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hopwood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Foster Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (324 more) ...
    • Strode Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Harrison Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Anderson Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bradfordton had a population of 152 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Farmingdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Farmingdale is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmingdale
  • Pasfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pasfield is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasfield
  • Curran
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Curran is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curran
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
  • Springfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Ridgely
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Ridgely is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
  • Salisbury
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Salisbury is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
  • Richland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Richland is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
  • Woodside
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodside is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
  • Bates
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bates is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bates
  • Sherman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Cantrall
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Loyd
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Loyd is located in Menard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Berlin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Berlin is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
    • Athens
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Chatham
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Bradfordton ...

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 219 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bradfordton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bradfordton, 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 Bradfordton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Bradfordton:

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 Bradfordton, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bradfordton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.