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 Champlin (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 Champlin. 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 hospitals 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.
Champlin is located in Livingston 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 Livingston County: Ford, Grundy, Kankakee, La Salle, McLean & Woodford.
Below are the counties that are near Champlin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Champlin:
- Livingston County (The home county of Champlin)
- The following are listed by their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Avoca is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- McDowell
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- McDowell is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDowell
- Fairbury
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Forrest
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Wing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Wing is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wing
- Swygert
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Swygert is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swygert
- Pontiac
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Eylar
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Eylar is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eylar
- Saunemin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Cayuga
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Cayuga is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga
- Strawn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Charlotte
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Charlotte is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlotte
- Champaign County
- Foosland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Ford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- Sibley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Piper City
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Kempton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Garber
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Garber is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garber
- Melvin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Roberts
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cabery
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Gibson City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Gibson City is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,275 people
- Gibson City has also been known as:
- Gibson
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gibson City <1>
- Elliott
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Proctor
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Proctor is located in Ford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor
- Grundy County
- The following are listed by their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- Highland Town ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Highland Town is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Town
- Kinsman
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Verona
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Clarke City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Clarke City is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarke City
- East Brooklyn
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- East Brooklyn is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Brooklyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
- Gardner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- South Wilmington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- South Wilmington is located in Grundy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wilmington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 637 people
- Iroquois County
- The following are listed by their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- La Hogue
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- La Hogue is located in Iroquois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Hogue
- Thawville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ridgeville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Ridgeville is located in Iroquois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeville
- Del Rey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Del Rey is located in Iroquois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey
- Gilman
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Onarga
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Danforth
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Buckley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Loda
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Kankakee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- Buckingham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Reddick
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Herscher
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Union Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- La Salle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- Dana
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ransom
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Kernan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Kernan is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kernan
- Streator
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Leeds
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Leeds is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds
- Rutland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kangley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Kangley is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kangley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- McLean County
- The following are listed by their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- Weston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Weston is located in McLean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
- Chenoa
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Cropsey
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Meadows
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Meadows is located in McLean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
- Anchor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Colfax
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Lexington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Gridley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Cooksville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Arrowsmith
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Merna
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Towanda
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Woodford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- El Paso
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Panola
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Panola is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
- Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
- Kappa
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Kappa is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kappa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
- Woodford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Woodford is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
- Minonk
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Benson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Secor
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Champlin, see our County-by-County Page for Champlin.
Cemeteries Near Champlin ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Champlin.
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 Champlin - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Champlin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- Avoca Twp. Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Graceland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Graceland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Graceland Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the East Graceland Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the southeast of Fairbury.
- The East Graceland Cemetery has also been known as:
- German Apostolic Christian Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2201400 <2>
- St. John's Catholic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Weston Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Patty Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Houder Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Payne Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Cooper Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- North Apostolic Christian Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Calvary Catholic Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (177 more) ...
- Spence Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Five Mile Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Forrest Twp. Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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.<4>
While we didn't find Champlin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Champlin.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Champlin, with the one closest to Champlin listed first.
- Lodemia
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Lodemia is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodemia
- Fairbury
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- McDowell
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- McDowell is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDowell
- Weston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Weston is located in McLean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
- Ocoya
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Ocoya is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocoya
- Swygert
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Swygert is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swygert
- Pontiac
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Chenoa
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Rugby
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Rugby is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
- Risk
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Risk is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Risk
- Saunemin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Eylar
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Eylar is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eylar
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Rooks Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Rooks Creek is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rooks Creek
- Cayuga
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Cayuga is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga
- Strawn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Champlin. See our List of 1890's Communities around Champlin.
Newspapers Published in Champlin ...
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 215 newspapers that have been published in the area around Champlin.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Champlin, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Champlin.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Champlin:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Livingston County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Champaign County
- Ford County
- Grundy County
- Iroquois County
- Kankakee County
- La Salle County
- McLean County
- Woodford 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> | 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- Champlin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Champlin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |