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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 Buffalo (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 Buffalo. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Buffalo is located in Sangamon County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties 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 Buffalo. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Buffalo:

  • Sangamon County     (The home county of Buffalo)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo, with the one closest to Buffalo listed first.
    • Mechanicsburg
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Dawson
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
      • Dawson is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawson <1>
    • Buffalo Hart
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Riverton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
      • Riverton is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverton <1>
    • Spaulding
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spaulding have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
      • Spaulding is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 836 people
    • Illiopolis
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Clear Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clear Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Clear Lake is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
    • Rochester
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
      • Rochester is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,715 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochester <1>
    • Williamsville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
      • Williamsville is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,490 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Williamsville <1>
    • Sherman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Grandview
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
      • Grandview is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,369 people
    • Ridgely
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ridgely. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
      • Ridgely is located in Sangamon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ridgely
      • From Buffalo to Ridgely
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo, with the one closest to Buffalo listed first.
    • Bolivia
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Auburn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Grove City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
      • Grove City is located in Christian County
    • Edinburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Sharpsburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sharpsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
      • Sharpsburg is located in Christian County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sharpsburg
      • From Buffalo to Sharpsburg
    • Bulpitt
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bulpitt have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bulpitt
      • Bulpitt is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bulpitt <1>
    • Jeisyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jeisyville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeisyville
      • Jeisyville is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Kincaid
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kincaid have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kincaid
      • Kincaid is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,362 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kincaid <1>
    • Tovey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tovey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tovey
      • Tovey is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tovey <1>
    • Stonington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stonington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonington
      • Stonington is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 835 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stonington <1>
    • Taylorville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Sandersville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • De Witt County
  • Logan County
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo, with the one closest to Buffalo listed first.
    • Niantic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Harristown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harristown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harristown
      • Harristown is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harristown <1>
    • Blue Mound
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Mound have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mound
      • Blue Mound is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,065 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Mound <1>
    • Warrensburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warrensburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrensburg
      • Warrensburg is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,112 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warrensburg <1>
    • Boody
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Bearsdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bearsdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearsdale
      • Bearsdale is located in Macon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bearsdale
      • From Buffalo to Bearsdale
    • Elwin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elwin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwin
      • Elwin is located in Macon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elwin <1>
    • Macon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Decatur
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Forsyth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forsyth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forsyth
      • Forsyth is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,465 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forsyth <1>
    • Turpin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Turpin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turpin
      • Turpin is located in Macon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Turpin
      • From Buffalo to Turpin
    • Maroa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Macoupin County
  • Mason County
  • Menard County
  • Montgomery County
    • White Oak
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for White Oak. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
      • White Oak is located in Montgomery County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to White Oak
      • From Buffalo to White Oak
  • Shelby County
    • Moweaqua
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moweaqua have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moweaqua
      • Moweaqua is located in Shelby County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,684 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moweaqua <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Buffalo ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Buffalo.

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 Buffalo covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Mechanicsburg Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mechanicsburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mechanicsburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pickerell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pickerell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pickerell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sangamon County Home Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sangamon County Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sangamon County Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Constant Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Constant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Constant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Buffalo Hart Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buffalo Hart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buffalo Hart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cass Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cass Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cass Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mallory Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mallory Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mallory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Martin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Martin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bice Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bice Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bice Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ladysmith Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ladysmith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ladysmith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (271 more) ...
    • Oak Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Furrow Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Furrow Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Furrow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hinckle Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hinckle Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hinckle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Buffalo had a population of 338 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Buffalo had a population of 473 people.

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

  • Mechanicsburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Dawson
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
    • Dawson is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawson <1>
  • Lanesville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lanesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanesville
    • Lanesville is located in Sangamon County
  • Buffalo Hart
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Cornland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Barclay
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barclay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barclay
    • Barclay is located in Sangamon County
  • Spaulding
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spaulding have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
    • Spaulding is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 836 people
  • Riverton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
    • Riverton is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,430 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverton <1>
  • Bolivia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Illiopolis
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Lake Fork
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Rochester
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
    • Rochester is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,715 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochester <1>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Mount Auburn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Berry
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry
      • Berry is located in Sangamon County
    • Breckenridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breckenridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
      • Breckenridge is located in Sangamon County

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

Newspapers Published in Buffalo ...

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 104 newspapers that have been published in the area around Buffalo.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Buffalo, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Buffalo.

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 Buffalo:

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

The official website for Sangamon County: www.co.sangamon.il.us/

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

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 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>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.
<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>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 Buffalo, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Buffalo) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Buffalo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8513, Longitude: -89.4097    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025