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 Collins (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 Collins. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Collins is located in Randolph 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 Randolph County: Jackson, Monroe, Perry, Saint Clair, Washington, Perry (MO) & Sainte Genevieve (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Collins. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Collins:
- Randolph County (The home county of Collins)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Ellis Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Evansville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Modoc
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Modoc is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modoc
- New Palestine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- New Palestine is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Palestine
- Preston
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Preston is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Walsh
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Walsh is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsh
- Dozaville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Dozaville is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dozaville
- Kaskaskia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Kaskaskia is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaskaskia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
- Ruma
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Ruma is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
- Prairie du Rocher
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie du Rocher is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Rocher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
- Prairie du Rocher has also been known as:
- Prairie du Rocher village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie du Rocher <1>
- Menard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Chester
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Degognia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Degognia is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Degognia
- Campbell Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Ava
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Jacob
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Renault
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Fults
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hecker
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Burksville Station
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Burksville Station is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burksville Station
- Burksville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Burksville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burksville
- Maeystown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Chalfin Bridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Chalfin Bridge is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalfin Bridge
- Wartburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Wartburg is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wartburg
- Madonnaville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Madonnaville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madonnaville
- Monroe City
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Monroe City is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe City
- Mitchie
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mitchie is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchie
- Waterloo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Willisville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Cutler
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Denmark
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Denmark is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
- Conant
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Conant is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conant
- Winkle
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Winkle is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkle
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Marissa
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Lenzburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- New Athens
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- New Athens is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Athens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,865 people
- Lementon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Lementon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lementon
- Fayetteville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Fayetteville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 336 people
- Saint Libory
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Smithton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Freeburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Clarmin
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Clarmin is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarmin
- Caspars
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Caspars is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caspars
- Elkton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Elkton is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
- Stone Church
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Stone Church is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Church
- Oakdale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Venedy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Venedy is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venedy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
- Jefferson County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Crystal City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Flucom
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Flucom is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flucom
- Festus
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Festus is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Festus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,114 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Festus <1>
- Knorpp
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Knorpp is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knorpp
- Olympian Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Olympian Village is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olympian Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 752 people
- Herculaneum
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Horine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Horine is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horine
- Pevely
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Pevely is located in Jefferson County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pevely
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,001 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pevely <1>
- Valles Mines
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Perry County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Lithium
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Lithium is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithium
- McBride
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- McBride is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McBride
- Sereno
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Sereno is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sereno
- Perryville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Silver Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Silver Lake is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Longtown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Longtown is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longtown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Eureka
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Eureka is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Farrar
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Farrar is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrar
- Millheim
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Millheim is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
- Biehle
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Biehle is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biehle
- Brazeau
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brazeau is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazeau
- Uniontown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Uniontown is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Saint Francois County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- French Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Farmington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Sainte Genevieve
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Little Rock Landing ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Little Rock Landing is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock Landing
- Quarry Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Quarry Town is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quarry Town
- Quarry Town has also been known as:
- Quarrytown
- Saint Mary
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Marlo ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Marlo is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlo
- Ozora
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Ozora is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozora
- Zell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Zell is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zell
- Clement ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Clement is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clement
- River aux Vases
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- River aux Vases is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River aux Vases
- Former name for River aux Vases:
- Staabtown
- Bloomsdale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Brickeys
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Brickeys is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickeys
- Former names for Brickeys:
- Brickeys Gristmill
- Brickeys Landing
- New Offenburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- New Offenburg is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Offenburg
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Collins, see our County-by-County Page for Collins.
Cemeteries Near Collins ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Collins.
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 Collins - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Collins covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Stipe Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- McCormick Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Kelly Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Memorial Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Valle Spring Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hughes Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- St. Pius Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kaskaskia Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Mann Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (339 more) ...
- Preston Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- St. John Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Nelson Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
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 Collins in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Collins.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Ellis Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Evansville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Modoc
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Modoc is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modoc
- Sainte Genevieve
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kaskaskia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Kaskaskia is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaskaskia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
- New Palestine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- New Palestine is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Palestine
- Preston
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Preston is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Ruma
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Ruma is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
- Menard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Prairie du Rocher
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie du Rocher is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Rocher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
- Prairie du Rocher has also been known as:
- Prairie du Rocher village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie du Rocher <1>
- Saint Mary
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Claryville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Claryville is located in Perry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claryville
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Chester
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ames
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ames is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames
- Zell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Zell is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zell
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Collins. See our List of 1890's Communities around Collins.
Newspapers Published in Collins ...
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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Collins.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Collins, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Collins.
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 Collins:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Randolph County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Jackson County
- Monroe County
- Perry County
- Saint Clair County
- Washington County
- Jefferson County
- Perry County
- Saint Francois County
- Sainte Genevieve 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 Collins, 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' (or 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- Collins) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |