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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 Claytonville (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 Claytonville. 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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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.

Claytonville is located in Iroquois 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 Iroquois County: Ford, Kankakee, Vermilion, Benton (IN) & Newton (IN).

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

  • Iroquois County     (The home county of Claytonville)
  • Champaign County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Claytonville, with the one closest to Claytonville listed first.
    • Penfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Gifford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gifford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gifford
      • Gifford is located in Champaign County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,035 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gifford <1>
    • Ludlow
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ludlow have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow
      • Ludlow is located in Champaign County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 351 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ludlow <1>
    • Flatville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rantoul
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rantoul have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rantoul
      • Rantoul is located in Champaign County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,305 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rantoul <1>
    • Prospect
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Royal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Dewey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dewey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
      • Dewey is located in Champaign County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dewey <1>
    • Thomasboro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thomasboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomasboro
      • Thomasboro is located in Champaign County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,066 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thomasboro <1>
  • Ford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Claytonville, with the one closest to Claytonville listed first.
    • Paxton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paxton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paxton
      • Paxton is located in Ford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,117 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paxton <1>
    • Roberts
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roberts have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts
      • Roberts is located in Ford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 328 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roberts <1>
    • Melvin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melvin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Melvin is located in Ford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melvin <1>
    • Piper City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Elliott
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Garber
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garber. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garber
      • Garber is located in Ford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Garber
      • From Claytonville to Garber
    • Gibson City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Sibley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sibley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibley
      • Sibley is located in Ford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sibley <1>
  • Livingston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Claytonville, with the one closest to Claytonville listed first.
    • Chatsworth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chatsworth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatsworth
      • Chatsworth is located in Livingston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,104 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chatsworth <1>
    • Charlotte
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Charlotte. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlotte
      • Charlotte is located in Livingston County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Charlotte
      • From Claytonville to Charlotte
    • Strawn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strawn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawn
      • Strawn is located in Livingston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Strawn <1>
  • Vermilion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Claytonville, with the one closest to Claytonville listed first.
    • East Lynn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lynn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lynn
      • East Lynn is located in Vermilion County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Lynn <1>
    • Rankin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rankin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rankin
      • Rankin is located in Vermilion County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 507 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rankin <1>
    • Hoopeston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoopeston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoopeston
      • Hoopeston is located in Vermilion County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,940 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoopeston <1>
    • Coalton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coalton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalton
      • Coalton is located in Vermilion County
    • Rossville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Armstrong
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Potomac
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Potomac have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potomac
      • Potomac is located in Vermilion County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 681 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Potomac <1>
    • Henning
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henning have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henning
      • Henning is located in Vermilion County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henning <1>
    • Alvin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Collison
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Bismarck
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Newtown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Denmark ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Benton County (IN)
  • Newton County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Claytonville, with the one closest to Claytonville listed first.
    • Kentland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kentland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentland
      • Kentland is located in Newton County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,650 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kentland <1>
    • Newton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
      • Newton is located in Newton County (IN)
    • Goodland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Warren County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Claytonville, with the one closest to Claytonville listed first.
    • Pence
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hedrick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sloan ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sloan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
      • Sloan is located in Warren County (IN)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sloan
      • From Claytonville to Sloan
    • Brisco ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brisco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisco
      • Brisco is located in Warren County (IN)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brisco
      • From Claytonville to Brisco
    • State Line City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Line City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line City
      • State Line City is located in Warren County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
    • State Line
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Village
      • Pine Village is located in Warren County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pine Village <1>
    • West Lebanon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Claytonville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Claytonville.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Claytonville, with the one closest to Claytonville 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Claytonville had a population of 125 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Goodwine
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Hickman
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickman
    • Hickman is located in Iroquois County
  • Cissna Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cissna Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cissna Park
    • Cissna Park is located in Iroquois County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 771 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cissna Park <1>
  • Woodworth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Schwer
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • East Lynn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lynn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lynn
    • East Lynn is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Lynn <1>
  • Wellington
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Milford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
    • Milford is located in Iroquois County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milford <1>
  • Rankin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rankin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rankin
    • Rankin is located in Vermilion County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 507 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rankin <1>
  • Clarence
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarence have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
    • Clarence is located in Ford County
  • Hoopeston
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoopeston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoopeston
    • Hoopeston is located in Vermilion County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,940 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoopeston <1>
  • Buckley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buckley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckley
    • Buckley is located in Iroquois County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 528 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buckley <1>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Claytonville ...

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 112 newspapers that have been published in the area around Claytonville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Claytonville, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Claytonville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Claytonville:

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

The official website for Iroquois County: www.iroquois-co.com/

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 Claytonville, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Claytonville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Claytonville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5674, Longitude: -87.8224    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025