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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 Chestervale (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 Chestervale. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Chestervale is located in Logan 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 Logan County: De Witt, Macon, Mason, McLean, Menard, Sangamon & Tazewell.

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

  • Logan County     (The home county of Chestervale)
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chestervale, with the one closest to Chestervale listed first.
    • Mount Auburn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bolivia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Grove City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • 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
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • De Witt County
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chestervale, with the one closest to Chestervale listed first.
    • Warrensburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Niantic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Maroa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Bearsdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • 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 Chestervale to Bearsdale
    • Forsyth
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Harristown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Decatur
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Boody
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oreana
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oreana have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreana
      • Oreana is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 804 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oreana <1>
    • Argenta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Argenta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argenta
      • Argenta is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 867 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Argenta <1>
    • Elwin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Blue Mound
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • 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>
  • Mason County
  • McLean County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chestervale, with the one closest to Chestervale listed first.
    • McLean
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McLean have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLean
      • McLean is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 790 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McLean <1>
    • Heyworth
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heyworth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heyworth
      • Heyworth is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,869 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Heyworth <1>
    • Stanford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanford
      • Stanford is located in McLean County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stanford <1>
    • Shirley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shirley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
      • Shirley is located in McLean County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shirley <1>
  • Menard County
  • Sangamon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chestervale, with the one closest to Chestervale listed first.
    • Buffalo Hart
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Williamsville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Buffalo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Illiopolis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Dawson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Mechanicsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Spaulding
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Sherman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cantrall
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cantrall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cantrall
      • Cantrall is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cantrall <1>
    • Clear Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
    • Grandview
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
  • Tazewell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chestervale, with the one closest to Chestervale listed first.
    • Armington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Burt
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Burt. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burt
      • Burt is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Burt
      • From Chestervale to Burt
    • Boynton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Richmond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Richmond. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
      • Richmond is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Richmond
      • From Chestervale to Richmond
    • Sutter ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sutter. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutter
      • Sutter is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sutter
      • From Chestervale to Sutter
    • Brownwood ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brownwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
      • Brownwood is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brownwood
      • From Chestervale to Brownwood
    • Delavan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hopedale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Mindale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Minier
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Fravert ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fravert. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fravert
      • Fravert is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fravert
      • From Chestervale to Fravert
    • Winkel ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winkel. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkel
      • Winkel is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Winkel
      • From Chestervale to Winkel

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

Cemeteries Near Chestervale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chestervale.

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

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

  • Downing Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Downing Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Downing Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bowers - Templeman Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bowers - Templeman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bowers - Templeman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harmony Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harmony Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harmony Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Skelton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skelton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skelton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Development Center Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Development Center Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Development Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Warrick Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Warrick Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Warrick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Braucher Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Braucher Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Braucher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Foster Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Foster Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Foster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wright Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wright Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wright Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (277 more) ...
    • Kline Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kline Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kline Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Pulaski Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pulaski Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pulaski Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Reese Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reese Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reese 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 in 1895, Chestervale had railroad service and no post office.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Chestervale ...

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 163 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chestervale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chestervale, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chestervale.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Chestervale:

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

The official website for Logan County: www.co.logan.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 Chestervale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Chestervale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chestervale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0920, Longitude: -89.3212    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025