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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 Chicken Bristle (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 Chicken Bristle. 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.

Chicken Bristle is located in Douglas 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 Douglas County: Champaign, Coles, Edgar, Moultrie, Piatt & Vermilion.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Chicken Bristle)
  • Champaign County
  • Coles County
  • De Witt County
  • Edgar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chicken Bristle, with the one closest to Chicken Bristle listed first.
    • Brocton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Palermo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Palermo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palermo
      • Palermo is located in Edgar County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Palermo
      • From Chicken Bristle to Palermo
    • Hume
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hume have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hume
      • Hume is located in Edgar County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hume <3>
    • Borton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Metcalf
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Metcalf have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metcalf
      • Metcalf is located in Edgar County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Metcalf <3>
    • Kansas
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kansas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas
      • Kansas is located in Edgar County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 707 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kansas <3>
    • Redmon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redmon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redmon
      • Redmon is located in Edgar County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Redmon <3>
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chicken Bristle, with the one closest to Chicken Bristle listed first.
    • Casner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Long Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Argenta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • 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 <3>
    • Hervey City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hervey City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hervey City
      • Hervey City is located in Macon County
    • Sangamon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Mount Zion
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Zion have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
      • Mount Zion is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,762 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Zion <3>
    • Oreana
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • 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 <3>
    • Turpin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turpin
      • Turpin is located in Macon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Turpin
      • From Chicken Bristle to Turpin
    • Decatur
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Moultrie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chicken Bristle, with the one closest to Chicken Bristle listed first.
    • Cadwell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lovington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lovington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovington
      • Lovington is located in Moultrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,010 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lovington <3>
    • Cushman
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cushman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushman
      • Cushman is located in Moultrie County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cushman
      • From Chicken Bristle to Cushman
    • Lake City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Sullivan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Allenville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
      • Allenville is located in Moultrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
    • Coles
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Dunn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dunn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunn
      • Dunn is located in Moultrie County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dunn
      • From Chicken Bristle to Dunn
    • Bethany
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bethany have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
      • Bethany is located in Moultrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,210 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bethany <3>
    • Dalton City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Gays
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gays have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays
      • Gays is located in Moultrie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gays <3>
  • Piatt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chicken Bristle, with the one closest to Chicken Bristle listed first.
    • Atwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Voorhies
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Bement
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bement have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bement
      • Bement is located in Piatt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,661 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bement <3>
    • Hammond
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Burrowsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Milmine
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milmine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milmine
      • Milmine is located in Piatt County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milmine <3>
    • Lintner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lintner. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lintner
      • Lintner is located in Piatt County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lintner
      • From Chicken Bristle to Lintner
    • Monticello
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monticello have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
      • Monticello is located in Piatt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,557 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monticello <3>
    • White Heath
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Heath have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Heath
      • White Heath is located in Piatt County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Heath <3>
    • La Place
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Place have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Place
      • La Place is located in Piatt County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Place <3>
    • Cerro Gordo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cerro Gordo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerro Gordo
      • Cerro Gordo is located in Piatt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,337 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cerro Gordo <3>
    • Cisco
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cisco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
      • Cisco is located in Piatt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 242 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <3>
    • De Land
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Shelby County
  • Vermilion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chicken Bristle, with the one closest to Chicken Bristle listed first.
    • Allerton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allerton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allerton
      • Allerton is located in Vermilion County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allerton <3>
    • Archie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Sidell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidell
      • Sidell is located in Vermilion County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 557 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidell <3>

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

Cemeteries Near Chicken Bristle ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chicken Bristle.

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

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

  • Upper Lester Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Upper Lester Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Upper Lester Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lewis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lewis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lewis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lower Lester Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower Lester Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lower Lester Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • O'Bryan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Rice Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nelson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nelson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nelson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mackville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Bourbon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bourbon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bourbon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tuscola Twp. Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Rock Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Lake Fork Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Fork Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Fork Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (269 more) ...
    • Taylor Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taylor Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Taylor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Antioch Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Antioch Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Antioch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Moore Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moore Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moore 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.<6>

While we didn't find Chicken Bristle in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Chicken Bristle.

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

  • Ficklin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ficklin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ficklin
    • Ficklin is located in Douglas County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ficklin
    • From Chicken Bristle to Ficklin
  • Garrett
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett
    • Garrett is located in Douglas County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 160 people
  • Atwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Tuscola
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tuscola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscola
    • Tuscola is located in Douglas County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,370 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tuscola <3>
  • Bourbon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bourbon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bourbon
    • Bourbon is located in Douglas County
  • Galton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galton
    • Galton is located in Douglas County
  • West Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Ridge
    • West Ridge is located in Douglas County
  • Pesotum
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Ivesdale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivesdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivesdale
    • Ivesdale is located in Champaign County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ivesdale <3>
  • Arthur
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Chesterville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Sadorus
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Chicken Bristle ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chicken Bristle.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chicken Bristle, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chicken Bristle.

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 Chicken Bristle:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<5>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.
<6>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 Chicken Bristle, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Chicken Bristle) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chicken Bristle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8353, Longitude: -88.3657    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025