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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 Earlville (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 Earlville. 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.

Earlville is located in La Salle 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 La Salle County: Bureau, DeKalb, Grundy, Kendall, Lee, Livingston, Marshall, Putnam & Woodford.

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

  • La Salle County     (The home county of Earlville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Baker
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Baker is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
    • Leland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Triumph
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Prairie Center
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Prairie Center is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Center
    • Mendota
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Waltham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Waltham is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltham
    • Troy Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Blakes
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Blakes is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blakes
    • Serena
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sheridan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Wedron
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Dayton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Dayton is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
    • Millington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Bureau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Arlington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Cherry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • La Moille
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Dalzell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Ladd
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Zearing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Zearing is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zearing
    • Van Orin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Ottville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Ottville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottville
    • Seatonville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Hollowayville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hollowayville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollowayville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
    • Malden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenoak
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Greenoak is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenoak
  • DeKalb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Shabbona Grove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Shabbona Grove is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shabbona Grove
    • Somonauk
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Shabbona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Waterman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Franks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Franks is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
    • Sandwich
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Hinckley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Elva
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Elva is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elva
    • Malta
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • De Kalb
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Cortland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Coltonville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
    • Clare
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Nettle Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Nettle Creek is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettle Creek
    • Morris
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Wauponsee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Wauponsee is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauponsee
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Big Rock
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kaneville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Maple Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Sugar Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Newark
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Millbrook
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Little Rock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Little Rock is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
    • Plano
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Plano is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plano <1>
    • Lisbon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Lisbon is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
    • Yorkville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Bristol
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Plattville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Plattville is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Oswego
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Radley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Radley is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radley
    • East Paw Paw
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • East Paw Paw is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Paw Paw
    • Paw Paw
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Compton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • The Burg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • The Burg is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Burg
    • West Brooklyn
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lee
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Sublette
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Steward
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Inlet
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Inlet is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inlet
    • Lee Center
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Amboy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ashton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Ogle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Creston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Rochelle
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Flagg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Flagg is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg
    • Hillcrest
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Hillcrest is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,216 people
    • Flagg Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Flagg Center is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flagg Center
    • Carthage
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Carthage is located in Ogle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Earlville, with the one closest to Earlville listed first.
    • Standard
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Granville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Mark
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Palatine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Mount Palatine is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Palatine
    • Hennepin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Earlville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Earlville.

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

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

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

  • St. Theresa Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Earl Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Carter Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Tripp Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Old Stevens Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • South Paw Paw Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Baker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Wisner Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Gouldtown Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Wyoming Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • East Paw Paw Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Cottage Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (244 more) ...
    • Fourmile Grove Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Davis Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Earlville had a population of 1,058 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Earlville had a population of 1,570 people.

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

  • Radley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Radley is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radley
  • Meriden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Meriden is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meriden
  • Baker
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Baker is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
  • Leland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Rollo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Rollo is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollo
  • Triumph
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Paw Paw
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Prairie Center
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Prairie Center is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Center
  • Mendota
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Shabbona Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Shabbona Grove is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shabbona Grove
  • Troy Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Northville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Northville is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northville
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Compton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Blakes
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Blakes is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blakes
    • Serena
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Earlville ...

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 134 newspapers that have been published in the area around Earlville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Earlville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Earlville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Earlville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2> of Earlville.

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 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 Earlville:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Earlville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Earlville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.