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 Gears Ferry (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 Gears Ferry. 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.
Name Variations for Gears Ferry ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Gears Ferry: Gears Fry. (or less commonly used: Gears Frry.)
- While the name of this community is Gears Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Gears Ferry may originally have been Gear's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Gears Ferry might be written as Gear Ferry.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 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.
Gears Ferry is located in Jo Daviess 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 Jo Daviess County: Dubuque (IA), Jackson (IA), Carroll, Stephenson, Grant (WI) & Lafayette (WI).
Below are the counties that are near Gears Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gears Ferry:
- Jo Daviess County (The home county of Gears Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- Galena Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Galena Junction is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena Junction
- Bremen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Bremen is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bremen
- Galena
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Aiken
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Aiken is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aiken
- Menominee
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Menominee is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menominee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- East Dubuque
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Scales Mound
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Elizabeth
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Hanover
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Apple River
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stockton
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Warren
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Valley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Valley is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
- Carroll County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- Blackhawk
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Blackhawk is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
- Arnold
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Arnold is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Marcus
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Marcus is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Savanna
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Polsgrove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Polsgrove is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polsgrove
- Ayers
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ayers is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers
- Center Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Center Hill is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Hill
- Hickory Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hickory Grove is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Stephenson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- Kent
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Loran
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Loran is located in Stephenson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loran
- Clinton County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- Delmar
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Teeds Grove
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Teeds Grove is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teeds Grove
- Charlotte
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Goose Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Goose Lake is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Andover
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Andover is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Bryant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Bryant is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
- Elwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Elwood is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwood
- Dubuque County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- Wilkins
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Wilkins is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkins
- Massey
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Massey is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massey
- Cattese
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cattese is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cattese
- Rockdale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rockdale is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
- Key West
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Key West is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Key West
- Dubuque
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Zwingle
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Zwingle is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zwingle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
- Sageville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sageville is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sageville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Asbury
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Asbury is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,841 people
- Washington Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Washington Mills is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Mills
- Durango
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Bernard
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Centralia
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Centralia is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
- Jackson County (IA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- Smiths
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Smiths is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths
- Saint Donatus
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Bellevue
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- North Bellevue is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bellevue
- Bellevue
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- La Motte
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cottonville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cottonville is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonville
- Springbrook
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Andrew
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Green Island
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Green Island is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Island
- Fulton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Fulton is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Garry Owen
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Garry Owen is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garry Owen
- Spragueville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Van Buren
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Van Buren is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Buren
- Jones County (IA)
- Clay Mills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Clay Mills is located in Jones County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Mills
- Grant County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- Hazel Green
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Hazel Green is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- Cuba City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Cuba City is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,047 people
- Jamestown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Jamestown is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Rutledge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rutledge is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
- Sinnipee ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sinnipee is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinnipee
- Dickeyville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Dickeyville is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickeyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,020 people
- Platteville
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Platteville is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platteville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,650 people
- Tennyson
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Tennyson is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennyson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 339 people
- Potosi
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Potosi is located in Grant County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potosi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 668 people
- Lafayette County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- New Diggings
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- New Diggings is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Diggings
- Benton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Benton is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
- White Oak
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- White Oak is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
- Etna
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Etna is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
- Fort Gratiot ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Gratiot is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Gratiot
- Former name for Fort Gratiot:
- Gratiot Grove
- Shullsburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Shullsburg is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shullsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,192 people
- Elk Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Elk Grove is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Grove
- Belmont
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Belmont is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 974 people
- Darlington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Darlington is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,317 people
- Gratiot
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gratiot is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gratiot
- Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
- Calamine
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Calamine is located in Lafayette County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calamine
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gears Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Gears Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Gears Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gears Ferry.
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 Gears Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gears Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Greenwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Galena.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #105926 <3>
- St. Marys Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Marys Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marys Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Galena.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #108003 <3>
- St. Donatus Catholic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Federman Farm Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Efferding Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Federman Farms Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Prospect Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Hill Cemetery
- The Prospect Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
- Prospect Hill Methodist Episcopalian Cemetery
- North Spruce Creek Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Potter Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- St. Nicholas Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (297 more) ...
- Spruce Creek Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Weinert Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Miners Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
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>
While we didn't find Gears Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Gears Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gears Ferry, with the one closest to Gears Ferry listed first.
- Portage
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Portage is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
- Galena Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Galena Junction is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena Junction
- Galena
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Aiken
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Aiken is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aiken
- Saint Donatus
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Smiths
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Smiths is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths
- Millbrig ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Millbrig is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millbrig
- Massey
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Massey is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massey
- King
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- King is located in Dubuque County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
- North Bellevue
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- North Bellevue is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bellevue
- Menominee
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Menominee is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menominee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Blanding
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Blanding is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanding
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Rodden
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Rodden is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodden
- Council Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Council Hill is located in Jo Daviess County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council Hill
- Bellevue
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gears Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gears Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Gears Ferry ...
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 198 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gears Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gears Ferry, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gears Ferry.
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 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 Gears Ferry:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Jo Daviess County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carroll County
- Stephenson County
- Clinton County
- Dubuque County
- Jackson County
- Jones County
- Grant County
- Lafayette County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Illinois
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Gears Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gears Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |