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 Hampshire (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 Hampshire. 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 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.
Hampshire is located in Kane 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 Kane County: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kendall, McHenry & Will.
Below are the counties that are near Hampshire. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hampshire:
- Kane County (The home county of Hampshire)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Starks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Starks is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks
- North Plato
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- North Plato is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plato
- Pingree Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Burlington
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Freeman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Freeman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Gilberts
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Plato Center
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- West Dundee
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Bowes Bend
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bowes Bend is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowes Bend
- Sleepy Hollow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Carpentersville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Lily Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Lily Lake is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,019 people
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Garden Prairie
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Herbert
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Herbert is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
- Belvidere
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Russellville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Russellville is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
- Irene
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Irene is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
- Capron
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Poplar Grove
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Timberlane
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Timberlane is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 934 people
- Caledonia
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cook County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Barrington Hills
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Barrington Hills is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,152 people
- South Barrington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- South Barrington is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,976 people
- Hoffman Estates
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Streamwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Barrington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Inverness
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Hanover Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Schaumburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Plum Grove Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Plum Grove Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove Village
- Capri Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Capri Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capri Village
- Fairfax Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Fairfax Village is located in Cook County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax Village
- Palatine
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- New Lebanon
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- Charter Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
- Genoa
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Sycamore
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
- Kingston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Brush Point ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Brush Point is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Point
- Coltonville ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coltonville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltonville
- Cortland
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Clare
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- De Kalb
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Kirkland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Fairdale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Fairdale is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
- DuPage County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Wayne
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bartlett
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ingalton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ingalton is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalton
- West Chicago
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- West Chicago is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chicago
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,593 people
- Keeneyville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Keeneyville is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
- Roselle
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Carol Stream
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Cloverdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Bloomingdale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Winfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Medinah
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Eola
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Kendall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Little Rock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Little Rock is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- Montgomery
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Boulder Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
- Bristol
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Oswego
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Plano
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Lake Barrington
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Lake Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,840 people
- Fox River Valley Gardens
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Port Barrington
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Port Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,481 people
- Port Barrington has also been known as:
- Port Barrington village
- Tower Lakes
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Tower Lakes is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- North Barrington
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- North Barrington is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
- Deer Park
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Wauconda
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Zurich
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Forest Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Forest Lake is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
- Kildeer
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Volo
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmer
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Gilmer is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
- McHenry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Huntley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Union
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Lakewood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Marengo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Algonquin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Crystal Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lake-in-the-Hills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgefield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgefield is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgefield
- Woodstock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Cary
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Trout Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
- Bull Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bull Valley is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
- Ogle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Monroe Center
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Creston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lindenwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Davis Junction
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Holcomb
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Winnebago County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Cherry Valley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Argyle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Argyle is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- North Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- North Park is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Park
- New Millford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- New Millford is located in Winnebago County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Millford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
- Loves Park
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Walworth County (WI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Big Foot Prairie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Big Foot Prairie is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Foot Prairie
- Zenda
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Zenda is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenda
- Genoa City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Genoa City is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,981 people
- Fontana-on-Geneva Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Fontana-on-Geneva Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana-on-Geneva Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,743 people
- Walworth
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Walworth is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,827 people
- Sharon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sharon is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,546 people
- Pell Lake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Pell Lake is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pell Lake
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hampshire, see our County-by-County Page for Hampshire.
Cemeteries Near Hampshire ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hampshire.
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 Hampshire - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hampshire covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Doty Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Hampshire Center Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Starks Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starks Cemetery
- The Starks Cemetery has also been known as:
- Old Stark's Cemetery
- Harmony Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- North Plato Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Union Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Burlington Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Huntlet Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Washington Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Charter Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Charter Grove Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Charter Grove.
- Continue List (308 more) ...
- Ward Family Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Coral Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Hampshire had a population of 696 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Hampshire had a population of 6,207 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hampshire, with the one closest to Hampshire listed first.
- Harmony
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Harmony is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
- North Plato
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- North Plato is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plato
- Pingree Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Huntley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- New Lebanon
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- New Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- Burlington
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Coyne
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Coyne is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coyne
- Freeman
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Freeman is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Charter Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
- Plato Center
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- McQueen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- McQueen is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McQueen
- Coral
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Coral is located in McHenry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coral
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Gilberts
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Union
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Udina
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Udina is located in Kane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Udina
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hampshire. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hampshire.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Hampshire ...
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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hampshire.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Hampshire. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Hampshire and those printed in the larger area surrounding Hampshire.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4> of Hampshire.
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 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 Hampshire:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Kane County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Boone County
- Cook County
- DeKalb County
- DuPage County
- Kendall County
- Lake County
- McHenry County
- Ogle County
- Winnebago County
- Walworth 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 Hampshire, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hampshire) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |