RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Marshall County >> Hopewell >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Hopewell (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 Hopewell. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Hopewell is located in Marshall 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 Marshall County: Bureau, La Salle, Peoria, Putnam, Stark & Woodford.

Below are the counties that are near Hopewell. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hopewell:

  • Marshall County     (The home county of Hopewell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Sparland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lacon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lacon is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacon <1>
    • Henry
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Henry is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <1>
    • La Rose
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Camp Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Varna
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Toluca
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Evans ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Evans is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
    • Wenona
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Bureau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Milo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Milo is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo
    • Bureau Junction
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Bureau Junction is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bureau Junction
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 297 people
      • Bureau Junction has also been known as:
      • Bureau
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bureau Junction <1>
    • Tiskilwa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • De Pue
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • De Pue is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Pue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,665 people
    • Princeton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Wyanet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Buda
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hollowayville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Hollowayville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollowayville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
    • Ottville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Ottville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottville
    • Seatonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Spring Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Neponset
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Henry County
    • Kewanee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Knox County
    • Williamsfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • La Salle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Priscilla ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Priscilla is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Priscilla
    • Rutland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Lostant
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Lostant is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lostant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
      • Lostant has also been known as:
      • Lost Ant
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lostant <1>
    • Leeds
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Leeds is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds
    • Cedar Point
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Tonica
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dana
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Dana is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dana <1>
    • Leonore
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Oglesby
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Deer Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Deer Park is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
    • Peru
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Peru is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,612 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peru <1>
    • Vermilionville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Vermilionville is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilionville
  • Livingston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Long Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Ancona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Munster
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Munster is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munster
  • Peoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Chillicothe
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Rome
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Edelstein
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • West Hallock
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • West Hallock is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hallock
    • Mossville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Dunlap
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Princeville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Peoria Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Keller
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Keller is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keller
    • Orange Prairie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • North Peoria
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • North Peoria is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Peoria
    • Monica
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Monica is located in Peoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monica
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Putnam
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Magnolia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • McNabb
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Hennepin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Mount Palatine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Mount Palatine is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Palatine
    • Granville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mark
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Standard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Stark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Speer
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Castleton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bradford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wyoming
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Modena
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Modena is located in Stark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modena
    • Toulon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Osceola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Osceola is located in Stark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
    • West Jersey
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • West Jersey is located in Stark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jersey
    • La Fayette
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Tazewell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Harvard Hills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Harvard Hills is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Hills
    • Trailpark Gardens
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Trailpark Gardens is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trailpark Gardens
    • Beverly Manor
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Beverly Manor is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly Manor
    • Washington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Robein
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Robein is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robein
    • Sunnyland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Cooper
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Cooper is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
    • East Peoria
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • East Peoria is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Peoria
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,344 people
      • Former name for East Peoria:
      • Hilton
    • Farmdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Farmdale is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmdale
    • Highway Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Highway Village is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highway Village
    • Caldwell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Caldwell is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caldwell
    • Crandall ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Crandall is located in Tazewell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crandall
  • Woodford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.
    • Washburn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Spring Bay
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Spring Bay is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
    • Bay View Gardens
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Bay View Gardens is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View Gardens
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
    • Metamora
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Germantown Hills
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Roanoke
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Benson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Eureka
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Minonk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Secor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Woodford is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
    • Goodfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hopewell, see our County-by-County Page for Hopewell.

Cemeteries Near Hopewell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hopewell.

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 Hopewell - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hopewell covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.

  • Yankee Lane Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Hammett Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Babb Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • New Salem Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • North Hampton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Chillicothe City Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Strawn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Russell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Jason & Broadus Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Greeves Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bonham Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Nighswonger Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (304 more) ...

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 Hopewell in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hopewell.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Hopewell, with the one closest to Hopewell listed first.

  • Lacon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lacon is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,713 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacon <1>
  • Sparland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Chillicothe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Rome
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Lawn Ridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Lawn Ridge is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawn Ridge
  • Edelstein
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Washburn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • West Hallock
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • West Hallock is located in Peoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hallock
  • Low Point
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Low Point is located in Woodford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Point
  • Henry
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Henry is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,230 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <1>
  • Akron
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Akron is located in Peoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
  • Whitefield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Whitefield is located in Bureau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitefield
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Spring Bay
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Spring Bay is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 456 people
    • Cazenovia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cazenovia is located in Woodford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cazenovia
    • La Rose
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hopewell. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hopewell.

Newspapers Published in Hopewell ...

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 214 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hopewell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hopewell, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hopewell.

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 websites either 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 Hopewell:

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 Hopewell, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hopewell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.