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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 Churchill (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 Churchill. 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.

Churchill is located in Bureau 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 Bureau County: Henry, La Salle, Lee, Marshall, Putnam, Stark & Whiteside.

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

  • Bureau County     (The home county of Churchill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchill, with the one closest to Churchill listed first.
    • Dalzell
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Ladd
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Ladd is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladd
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,184 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ladd <1>
    • Cherry
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Spring Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Ottville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ottville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottville
    • Seatonville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hollowayville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Hollowayville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollowayville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
    • Arlington
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • De Pue
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • De Pue is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Pue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,665 people
    • Zearing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Zearing is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zearing
    • Malden
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • La Moille
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bureau Junction
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Bureau Junction is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bureau Junction
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 297 people
      • Bureau Junction has also been known as:
      • Bureau
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bureau Junction <1>
  • DeKalb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchill, with the one closest to Churchill listed first.
    • Shabbona Grove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Shabbona Grove is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shabbona Grove
    • Shabbona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Somonauk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Grundy County
    • Nettle Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Nettle Creek is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettle Creek
  • La Salle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchill, with the one closest to Churchill listed first.
    • Peru
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Peru is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,612 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peru <1>
    • La Salle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Troy Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • North Utica
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • North Utica is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Utica
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,333 people
    • Waltham
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Waltham is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltham
    • Cedar Point
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Oglesby
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Utica
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Deer Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Deer Park is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
    • Triumph
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mendota
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Tonica
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Vermilionville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Vermilionville is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilionville
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchill, with the one closest to Churchill listed first.
    • Sublette
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Compton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • West Brooklyn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Radley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Radley is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radley
    • The Burg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • The Burg is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Burg
    • East Paw Paw
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • East Paw Paw is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Paw Paw
    • Paw Paw
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Inlet
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Inlet is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inlet
    • Lee Center
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Amboy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Eldena
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Harmon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Livingston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchill, with the one closest to Churchill listed first.
    • Munster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Munster is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munster
    • Coalville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Coalville is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
    • Vermilion City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Vermilion City is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilion City
    • Ancona
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Missal
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Missal is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missal
    • Long Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchill, with the one closest to Churchill listed first.
    • Henry
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Henry is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <1>
    • Evans ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Evans is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
    • Varna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Wenona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Toluca
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Lacon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Lacon is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacon <1>
    • La Rose
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Sparland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchill, with the one closest to Churchill listed first.
    • Granville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Standard
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Mark
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hennepin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Palatine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Mount Palatine is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Palatine
    • McNabb
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Magnolia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Putnam
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Stark County
    • Bradford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Whiteside County
    • Deer Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Churchill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Churchill.

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

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

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

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>

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

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

  • Ladd
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Ladd is located in Bureau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladd
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,184 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ladd <1>
  • Spring Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Peru
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Peru is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,612 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peru <1>
  • Dimmick
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Dimmick is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dimmick
  • Seatonville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hollowayville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hollowayville is located in Bureau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollowayville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
  • La Salle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • De Pue
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • De Pue is located in Bureau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Pue
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,665 people
  • Troy Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Arlington
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Oglesby
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Granville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Deer Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Deer Park is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
    • Utica
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Malden
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Churchill ...

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 143 newspapers that have been published in the area around Churchill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Churchill, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Churchill.

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 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 Churchill:

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 Churchill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Churchill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.