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 Fergestown (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 Fergestown. 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 and hospitals 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.
Fergestown 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 Fergestown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fergestown:
- Williamson County (The home county of Fergestown)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Whiteash
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Whiteash is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteash
- Estimated population in 2014: 240 people
- Johnston City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stiritz
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Stiritz is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stiritz
- Herrin Junction ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Herrin Junction is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrin Junction
- Spillertown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Spillertown is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spillertown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
- Energy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Herrin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Marion
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Freeman Spur
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- 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 southwest)
- Crainville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crainville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,419 people
- Carterville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Colp
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- 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
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Dewmaine is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewmaine
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Cambon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Cambon is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambon
- Plumfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Plumfield is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
- West Frankfort
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- West Frankfort is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Frankfort
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,733 people
- Orient
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Zeigler
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Deering City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Deering City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deering City
- Fitt's Hill ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fitt's Hill is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitt's Hill
- Royalton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Buckner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Christopher
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Hanaford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Hanaford is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanaford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
- Parrish
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Parrish is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrish
- Smothersville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Smothersville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smothersville
- Hamilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Macedonia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Walpole
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Walpole is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walpole
- Flint
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Flint is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
- Broughton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Dale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lovilla
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lovilla is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovilla
- Diamond City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Diamond City is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Carbondale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- De Soto
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Elkville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hallidayboro
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hallidayboro is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallidayboro
- Dowell
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Makanda
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Murphysboro
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Vergennes
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Pomona
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Oraville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Gorham
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Ava
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Emerson City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Emerson City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson City
- Fitzgerrell ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 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
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Bonnie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Dareville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Dareville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dareville
- Scheller
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Waltonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Eagle Point Bay
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Eagle Point Bay is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Point Bay
- Egyptian Hills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Egyptian Hills is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egyptian Hills
- Deer Ridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Deer Ridge is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Ridge
- Goreville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- New Burnside
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Ozark
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Reynoldsburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Reynoldsburg is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynoldsburg
- Buncombe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Simpson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Vienna
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bender ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Bender is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bender
- Wartrace
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Wartrace is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wartrace
- Cypress
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Du Quoin
(21 miles [33.8 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
(22 miles [35.4 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
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Sunfield is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunfield
- Pyatts
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pyatts is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pyatts
- Tamaroa
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pinckneyville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Pope County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- McCormick
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- McCormick is located in Pope County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCormick
- Eddyville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Glendale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Glendale is located in Pope County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- Oak
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Oak is located in Pope County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak
- Saline County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Stonefort
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Carrier Mills
(19 miles [30.6 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>
- Galatia
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Cornerville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cornerville is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerville
- Buena Vista
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Buena Vista is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Ledford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Ledford is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledford
- Liberty
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Liberty is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Long Branch
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Long Branch is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
- Harrisburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Raleigh
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Gaskins City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Gaskins City is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaskins City
- Muddy
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Mitchellsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Mitchellsville is located in Saline County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchellsville
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Lick Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Lick Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek
- Water Valley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Water Valley is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Cobden
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Pleasant
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Alto Pass
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Anna
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Jonesboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Fergestown, see our County-by-County Page for Fergestown.
Cemeteries Near Fergestown ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fergestown.
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 Fergestown - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fergestown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Ferges Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Allen Hunter Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Ralls Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Walker Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Reed Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Moake Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Stroud - Sehoskey Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Sanders Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Sanders Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Boyd Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Spiller Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Camp Ground Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Continue List (485 more) ...
- Perry Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Sanders Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jacob Hunter Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Fergestown in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Fergestown.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Fergestown, with the one closest to Fergestown listed first.
- Bainbridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bainbridge is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge
- Marion
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Crainville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Crainville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crainville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,419 people
- Carterville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Plumfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Plumfield is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
- Fredonia ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Fredonia is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Frankfort
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Frankfort is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
- Blairsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Blairsville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsville
- New Dennison
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- New Dennison is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Dennison
- Crab Orchard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Crab Orchard is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Orchard
- Attila
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Attila is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attila
- Corinth
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Corinth is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Fitt's Hill ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fitt's Hill is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitt's Hill
- Buckner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Creal Springs
(13 miles [20.9 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 Fergestown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fergestown.
Newspapers Published in Fergestown ...
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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fergestown.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fergestown, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fergestown.
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 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 Fergestown:
- 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
- Saline County
- Union 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> | 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 Fergestown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Fergestown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |