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 Halls Ford (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 Halls Ford. 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 Halls Ford ...
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 Halls Ford: Halls Frd.
- While the name of this community is Halls Ford, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Halls Ford may originally have been Hall's Ford.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Halls Ford might be written as Hall Ford.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Halls Ford. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Halls Ford.
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 southwest 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 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.
Halls Ford is located in Coles 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 Coles County: Clark, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Moultrie & Shelby.
Below are the counties that are near Halls Ford. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Halls Ford:
- Coles County (The home county of Halls Ford)
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Charleston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Hutton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hutton is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutton
- Lerna
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Ashmore
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bushton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Bushton is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushton
- Rardin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Rardin is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rardin
- Saint Omer ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Omer is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Omer
- Trilla
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Dorans
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dorans is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorans
- Magnet
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Magnet is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnet
- Mattoon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Humboldt
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Clark County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Westfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Oilfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Oilfield is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oilfield
- Cleone
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Cleone is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleone
- Casey
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Cumberland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Cumberland is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
- Martinsville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Point
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Point is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Point
- Clarksville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Clarksville is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
- Clark Center
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Clark Center is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark Center
- Hogue Town
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hogue Town is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogue Town
- Marshall
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Melrose
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Melrose is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Bellair
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Bellair is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellair
- Annapolis
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Kibbie ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Kibbie is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibbie
- Dogwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dogwood is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood
- Cumberland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Diona
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Diona is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diona
- Janesville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Union Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Union Center is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center
- Johnstown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Johnstown is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Timothy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Timothy is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timothy
- Bradbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bradbury is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradbury
- Toledo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Greenup
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Jewett
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Walla Walla
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Walla Walla is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walla Walla
- Hazel Dell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Hazel Dell is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Dell
- Neoga
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Filson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Filson is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filson
- Hindsboro
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Kemp
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Kemp is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kemp
- Arcola
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Chesterville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Chesterville is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterville
- Patterson Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Patterson Springs is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson Springs
- Camargo
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Murdock
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Tuscola
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Arthur
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Newman
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Ficklin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ficklin is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ficklin
- Edgar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Kansas
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Grandview
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Grandview is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Borton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Borton is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borton
- Bell Ridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Bell Ridge is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Ridge
- Redmon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Brocton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Conlogue
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Conlogue is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conlogue
- Oliver
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Oliver is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliver
- Paris
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Nevins
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Nevins is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevins
- Hume
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Effingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Montrose
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Montrose is located in Effingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
- Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
- Green Creek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Green Creek is located in Effingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Creek
- Teutopolis
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Dieterich
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Effingham
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jasper County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Hidalgo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Rose Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Rose Hill is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
- Yale
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Falmouth
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Falmouth is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
- Hunt City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hunt City is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt City
- Wheeler
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Lis
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Lis is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lis
- Newton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Moultrie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Coles
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Coles is located in Moultrie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles
- Gays
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Allenville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Allenville is located in Moultrie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
- Cadwell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Cadwell is located in Moultrie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadwell
- Sullivan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cushman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cushman is located in Moultrie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushman
- Piatt County
- Atwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Sexson Corner
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Sexson Corner is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sexson Corner
- Trowbridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Trowbridge is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trowbridge
- Sigel
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Windsor
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Strasburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Stewardson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Middlesworth
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Middlesworth is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlesworth
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Halls Ford, see our County-by-County Page for Halls Ford.
Cemeteries Near Halls Ford ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Halls Ford.
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 Halls Ford - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Halls Ford covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- New Kelley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- McKenzie Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Kickapoo Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Kelley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Mt. Tabor Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Leitch Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Stringtown Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Adkins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hurricane Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Anderson Cemetery
- The Anderson Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2388901 <3>
- Welch Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Whetstone Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (387 more) ...
- Grant Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Yocum Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Unity Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 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.<4>
While we didn't find Halls Ford in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Halls Ford.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Halls Ford, with the one closest to Halls Ford listed first.
- Charleston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Campbell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Campbell is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
- Diona
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Diona is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diona
- Hutton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hutton is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutton
- Janesville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lerna
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Loxa
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Loxa is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loxa
- Johnstown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Johnstown is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Union Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Union Center is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center
- Westfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Bradbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bradbury is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradbury
- Timothy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Timothy is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timothy
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Ashmore
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bushton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Bushton is located in Coles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushton
- Trilla
(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 Halls Ford. See our List of 1890's Communities around Halls Ford.
Newspapers Published in Halls Ford ...
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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Halls Ford.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Halls Ford, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Halls Ford.
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 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 Halls Ford:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Coles County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clark County
- Crawford County
- Cumberland County
- Douglas County
- Edgar County
- Effingham County
- Jasper County
- Moultrie County
- Piatt County
- Shelby 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 Halls Ford, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Halls Ford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |