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 Leclaire (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 Leclaire. 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 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.
Leclaire is located in Madison 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 Madison County: Bond, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery, Saint Clair, Saint Charles (MO), Saint Louis City (MO) & Saint Louis (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Leclaire. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Leclaire:
- Madison County (The home county of Leclaire)
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Edwardsville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Glen Carbon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Maryville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Poag
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Poag is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poag
- Fruit
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fruit is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruit
- Roxana
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Troy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- South Roxana
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- South Roxana is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Roxana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,986 people
- Pontoon Beach
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Brooks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Brooks is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
- Hartford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Mitchell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Mitchell is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
- Collinsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Bond County
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Pierron
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Old Ripley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Old Ripley is located in Bond County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Ripley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Pocahontas
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Sorento
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Reno
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Reno is located in Bond County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reno
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Trenton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Aviston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- New Baden
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Rose
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Saint Rose is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Rose
- Albers
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Breese
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Damiansville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Damiansville is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damiansville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 484 people
- New Memphis
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Germantown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Jersey County
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Delhi
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Delhi is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
- Elsah
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Chautauqua
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Chautauqua is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chautauqua
- Dow
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- McClusky
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- McClusky is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClusky
- Fidelity
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Grafton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Jerseyville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Otterville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Otterville is located in Jersey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otterville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
- Macoupin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Bunker Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Staunton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Wilsonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Brighton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dorchester
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Dorchester is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Miles Station
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Miles Station is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles Station
- Royal Lakes
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Royal Lakes is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
- Royal Lakes has also been known as:
- Royal Lakes village
- Sawyerville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- White City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- White City is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
- Benld
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Mount Clare
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Mount Clare is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Clare
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Shipman
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Mount Olive
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Monroe County
- Columbia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Walshville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Panama
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Donnellson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Litchfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Caseyville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bunkum
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Bunkum is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunkum
- Fairmont City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fairmont City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,439 people
- Washington Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Washington Park is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,831 people
- Fairview Heights
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- French Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- French Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Village
- O'Fallon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Petersburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Petersburg is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
- Brooklyn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Brooklyn is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 687 people
- Lebanon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- East Saint Louis
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- National City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Alorton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Charles County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- West Alton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Portage Des Sioux
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Gardnerville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Gardnerville is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardnerville
- Saint Charles
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Saint Louis City (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Baden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Baden is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baden
- Saint Louis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Tower Grove
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Tower Grove is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Grove
- Cheltenham
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cheltenham is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheltenham
- University City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- University City is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 34,049 people
- Carondelet
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Carondelet is located in Saint Louis City (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carondelet
- Saint Louis County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Glasgow Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Glasgow Village is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow Village
- Spanish Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Spanish Lake is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Lake
- Bellefontaine Neighbors
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Bellefontaine Neighbors is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefontaine Neighbors
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,297 people
- Riverview
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Riverview is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,821 people
- Castle Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Castle Point is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Point
- Moline Acres
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Moline Acres is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,339 people
- Black Jack
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Black Jack is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,921 people
- Country Club Hills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Country Club Hills is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,245 people
- Dellwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Dellwood is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,994 people
- Flordell Hills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Flordell Hills is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flordell Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 800 people
- Jennings
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Jennings is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,644 people
- Ferguson
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Ferguson is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferguson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,457 people
- Northwoods
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Northwoods is located in Saint Louis County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwoods
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,061 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Leclaire, see our County-by-County Page for Leclaire.
Cemeteries Near Leclaire ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Leclaire.
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 Leclaire - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Leclaire covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Ballard Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Wolf Family Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Grover - Gifford Family Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Lusk Family Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Frickenstein Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Boniface Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Boniface Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Edwardsville.
- The St. Boniface Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #107845 <2>
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- St. Marys Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Valley View Gardens Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Sunset Hills Memorial Estates Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bethel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Oaklawn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Continue List (491 more) ...
- St. Pauls UCC Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Calvary Catholic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
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 Leclaire in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Leclaire.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Leclaire, with the one closest to Leclaire listed first.
- Edwardsville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Poag
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Poag is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poag
- Fruit
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fruit is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruit
- Wanda
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Wanda is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanda
- Troy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brooks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Brooks is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
- Mitchell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Mitchell is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
- Stallings
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Stallings is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stallings
- Carpenter
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Carpenter is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter
- Collinsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Moro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Marine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Bethalto
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Nameoki
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Nameoki is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nameoki
- Kaufman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kaufman is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaufman
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Leclaire. See our List of 1890's Communities around Leclaire.
Newspapers Published in Leclaire ...
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 592 newspapers that have been published in the area around Leclaire.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Leclaire, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Leclaire.
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 Leclaire:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Madison County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bond County
- Clinton County
- Jersey County
- Macoupin County
- Monroe County
- Montgomery County
- Saint Clair County
- Saint Charles County
- Saint Louis City
- Saint Louis 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 Leclaire, 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 from Point A (ie- Leclaire) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |