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 Clifford (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 Clifford. 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 and doctors 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.
Clifford is located in Williamson 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 Williamson County: Franklin, Jackson, Johnson, Pope, Saline & Union.
Below are the counties that are near Clifford. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Clifford:
- Williamson County (The home county of Clifford)
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Colp
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Colp is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colp
- Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
- Former name for Colp:
- Colpville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colp <1>
- Dewmaine
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Dewmaine is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewmaine
- Blairsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Blairsville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsville
- Herrin Junction ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Herrin Junction is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrin Junction
- Bush
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bush is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
- Herrin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cambria
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hurst
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Carterville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Energy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Freeman Spur
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Freeman Spur is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Spur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
- Freeman Spur has also been known as:
- Freeman Spur village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeman Spur <1>
- Crainville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Crainville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crainville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,419 people
- Stiritz
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Stiritz is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stiritz
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Royalton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Zeigler
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Cambon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cambon is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambon
- Plumfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Plumfield is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
- Orient
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- West Frankfort
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- West Frankfort is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Frankfort
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,733 people
- Christopher
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Mulkeytown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Buckner
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Coello
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- North City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- North City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
- Deering City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Deering City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deering City
- Valier
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Hamilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Macedonia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Walpole
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Walpole is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walpole
- Flint
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Flint is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- De Soto
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Hallidayboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Hallidayboro is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallidayboro
- Elkville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Carbondale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dowell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Murphysboro
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Makanda
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Vergennes
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Oraville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Pomona
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Ava
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Gorham
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Jacob
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Emerson City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Emerson City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson City
- Fitzgerrell ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Fitzgerrell is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzgerrell
- Ina
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Ina is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ina
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,279 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ina <1>
- Nason
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Scheller
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Dareville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Dareville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dareville
- Waltonville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Bonnie
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Deer Ridge
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Deer Ridge is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Ridge
- Eagle Point Bay
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Eagle Point Bay is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Point Bay
- Goreville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Egyptian Hills
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Egyptian Hills is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egyptian Hills
- New Burnside
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Buncombe
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Ozark
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Reynoldsburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Reynoldsburg is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynoldsburg
- Vienna
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Simpson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Du Quoin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Du Quoin is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Du Quoin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,591 people
- Saint Johns
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Johns is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Sunfield
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Sunfield is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunfield
- Pyatts
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pyatts is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pyatts
- Tamaroa
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Pinckneyville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Denmark
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Denmark is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
- Conant
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Conant is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conant
- Cutler
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Willisville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Pope County
- McCormick
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- McCormick is located in Pope County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCormick
- Randolph County
- Shiloh Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Shiloh Hill is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh Hill
- Saline County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Stonefort
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Cornerville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Cornerville is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerville
- Galatia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Carrier Mills
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Carrier Mills is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrier Mills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,527 people
- Former names for Carrier Mills:
- Carriers Mills
- Morrilsville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carrier Mills <1>
- Ledford
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ledford is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledford
- Long Branch
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Long Branch is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
- Buena Vista
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Buena Vista is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Liberty
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Liberty is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Harrisburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Raleigh
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Gaskins City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Gaskins City is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaskins City
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Water Valley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Water Valley is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Lick Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Lick Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek
- Alto Pass
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cobden
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Pleasant
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Anna
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Jonesboro
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Wolf Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Dutch Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Dutch Mills is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Mills
- Washington County
- Du Bois
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Du Bois is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Du Bois
- Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
- Perry County (MO)
- Altenburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Clifford, see our County-by-County Page for Clifford.
Cemeteries Near Clifford ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clifford.
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 Clifford - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Clifford covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Greathouse Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Blairsville Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Cundiff Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Emerson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- San Carlo Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlo Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the San Carlo Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Herrin.
- The San Carlo Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Carlo Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108121 <2>
- Wilson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Russell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hinchcliff Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Russell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Wells Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Wells Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Royalton.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108783 <2>
- Hillcrest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hillcrest Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Carterville.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1778004 <2>
- Little Flock Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Continue List (469 more) ...
- North Oakwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Oakwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Carterville.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107282 <2>
- Willowrest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
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 Clifford in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Clifford.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Clifford, with the one closest to Clifford listed first.
- Blairsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Blairsville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsville
- Fredonia ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fredonia is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Carterville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Crainville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Crainville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crainville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,419 people
- Plumfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Plumfield is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
- Bainbridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bainbridge is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge
- De Soto
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Mulkeytown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Carbondale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Marion
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Frankfort
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Frankfort is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
- Christopher
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Elkville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Buckner
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Boskydell
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Boskydell is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boskydell
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Clifford. See our List of 1890's Communities around Clifford.
Newspapers Published in Clifford ...
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 102 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clifford.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clifford, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clifford.
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 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 Clifford:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Williamson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Franklin County
- Hamilton County
- Jackson County
- Jefferson County
- Johnson County
- Perry County
- Pope County
- Randolph County
- Saline County
- Union County
- Washington County
- Perry 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> | 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 Clifford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Clifford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |