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 Forty Acres (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 Forty Acres. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Forty Acres is located in Fulton 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 Fulton County: Knox, Mason, McDonough, Peoria, Schuyler, Tazewell & Warren.
Below are the counties that are near Forty Acres. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Forty Acres:
- Fulton County (The home county of Forty Acres)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Farmington
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Norris
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Brereton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Brereton is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brereton
- Fairview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Canton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Breeds
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Breeds is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breeds
- Bybee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bybee is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bybee
- Fiatt
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Dunfermline
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Saint David
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Banner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- London Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Blyton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Blyton is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blyton
- Knox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Yates City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Maquon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Gilson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dahinda
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Williamsfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- De Long
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- De Long is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Long
- Appleton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Appleton is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Knoxville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Augustine
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Abingdon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Knox
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Knox is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox
- East Galesburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- East Galesburg is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Galesburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 761 people
- Victoria
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Mason County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Goofy Ridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Goofy Ridge is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goofy Ridge
- Buzzville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Buzzville is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzville
- Manito
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Union
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Union is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Forest City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Forest City is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Topeka
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Havana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Poplar City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- McDonough County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Prairie City
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Prairie City is located in McDonough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- New Philadelphia
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- New Philadelphia is located in McDonough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Philadelphia
- Bushnell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Adair
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Peoria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Trivoli
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Elmwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hanna City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Brimfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Glasford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Edwards
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Kingston Mines
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Maxwell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Maxwell is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
- Norwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Norwood is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
- Laura
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mapleton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bartonville
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Bellevue
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Bellevue is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,037 people
- Stark County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- West Jersey
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- West Jersey is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jersey
- Speer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- La Fayette
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Toulon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Wyoming
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Tazewell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Radville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Radville is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radville
- Talbott
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Talbott is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talbott
- Crescent
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Crescent is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
- Parkland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Parkland is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkland
- Powerton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Powerton is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powerton
- Stoehrs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Stoehrs is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoehrs
- North Pekin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- North Pekin is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pekin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,530 people
- Former name for North Pekin:
- Radio City
- Pekin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Midway
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Midway is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Creve Coeur
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Creve Coeur is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creve Coeur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,109 people
- Former name for Creve Coeur:
- Wesley City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Creve Coeur <1>
- Marquette Heights
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Marquette Heights is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marquette Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,617 people
- Hawley ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hawley is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley
- Schaeferville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Schaeferville is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schaeferville
- Warren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Surrey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Surrey is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surrey
- Berwick
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Cameron
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Woodford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Bay View Gardens
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Bay View Gardens is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View Gardens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
- Spring Bay
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Spring Bay is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bay
- Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
- Germantown Hills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Forty Acres, see our County-by-County Page for Forty Acres.
Cemeteries Near Forty Acres ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forty Acres.
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 Forty Acres - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Forty Acres covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Oak Ridge Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Coal Creek Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hanson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Norris Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Concord Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Parker Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Providence Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Johnson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Brunswick Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Harkness Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (336 more) ...
- Watkins Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Uniontown Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Blakeslee Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
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 Forty Acres in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Forty Acres.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Forty Acres, with the one closest to Forty Acres listed first.
- Farmington
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Norris
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Cramer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Cramer is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cramer
- Yates City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Fairview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Trivoli
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Elmwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rapatee
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Rapatee is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapatee
- Canton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Douglas
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
- Rawalts
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Rawalts is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawalts
- Bybee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bybee is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bybee
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Breeds
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Breeds is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breeds
- Eden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Eden is located in Peoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Fiatt
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Forty Acres. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forty Acres.
Newspapers Published in Forty Acres ...
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 138 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forty Acres.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forty Acres, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forty Acres.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Forty Acres:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Fulton County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Knox County
- Mason County
- McDonough County
- Peoria County
- Stark County
- Tazewell County
- Warren County
- Woodford 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 Forty Acres, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Forty Acres) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |