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 Midway (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 Midway. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Midway is located in Vermilion 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 Vermilion County: Champaign, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Iroquois, Benton (IN), Vermillion (IN) & Warren (IN).
Below are the counties that are near Midway. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Midway:
- Vermilion County (The home county of Midway)
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Westville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Georgetown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Busenville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Busenville is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busenville
- Meeks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Meeks is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeks
- Belgium
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Belgium is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgium
- Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
- Tilton
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Catlin
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Olivet
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Olivet is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Vermilion Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Vermilion Grove is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilion Grove
- Danville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Hillery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Hillery is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillery
- Indianola
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Champaign County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Homer
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Ogden
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Broadlands
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Royal
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Rutherford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Rutherford is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutherford
- Saint Joseph
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Sidney
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Longview
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Penfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mayview
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Mayview is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
- Flatville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Flatville is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatville
- Philo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Newman
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Fairland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Fairland is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairland
- Murdock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Villa Grove
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Villa Grove is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,414 people
- Edgar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Chrisman
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Scottland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Scottland is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottland
- Raven
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Raven is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven
- Palermo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Palermo is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palermo
- Bloomfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Bloomfield is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield
- Metcalf
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Kidley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Kidley is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kidley
- Logan
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Hume
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Clays Prairie
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Clays Prairie is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clays Prairie
- Huffmanville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Huffmanville is located in Edgar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffmanville
- Brocton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Fountain County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Covington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Layton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Layton is located in Fountain County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Layton
- Harveysburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Harveysburg is located in Fountain County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveysburg
- Kingman
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Veedersburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Stone Bluff
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Stone Bluff is located in Fountain County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Bluff
- Wallace
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Wallace is located in Fountain County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace
- Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
- Hillsboro
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Mellott
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Mellott is located in Fountain County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mellott
- Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
- Attica
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Newtown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Newtown is located in Fountain County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
- Montgomery County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Alamo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Alamo is located in Montgomery County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
- Waynetown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Parke County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- West Union
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- West Union is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
- Montezuma
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Annapolis
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Annapolis is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annapolis
- Armiesburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Armiesburg is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armiesburg
- Grange Corner
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Grange Corner is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange Corner
- Bloomingdale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Mecca
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mecca is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mecca
- Population from the 2020 Census: 325 people
- Marshall
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Marshall is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
- Rockville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Byron
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Byron is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
- Billie Creek Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Billie Creek Village is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billie Creek Village
- Nyesville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Nyesville is located in Parke County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nyesville
- Vermillion County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Gessie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Gessie is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gessie
- Rileysburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Rileysburg is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rileysburg
- Eugene
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Eugene is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eugene
- Perrysville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Cayuga
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cayuga is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,095 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cayuga <1>
- Tree Spring
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Tree Spring is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tree Spring
- Newport
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dana
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dana is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 564 people
- Hillsdale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hillsdale is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Alta
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Alta is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
- Saint Bernice
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Saint Bernice is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Bernice
- Blanford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Blanford is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanford
- Vigo County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Libertyville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Libertyville is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
- Shepardsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Shepardsville is located in Vigo County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepardsville
- Warren County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Foster
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Foster is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster
- State Line City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- State Line City is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- State Line
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- State Line is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Baltimore is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Hedrick
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Hedrick is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedrick
- Old Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Old Town is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
- Sloan ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sloan is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
- West Lebanon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- West Lebanon is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 686 people
- Pence
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Pence is located in Warren County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pence
- Williamsport
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Midway, see our County-by-County Page for Midway.
Cemeteries Near Midway ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Midway.
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 Midway - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Midway covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Lithuanian Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithuanian Cemetery
- The Lithuanian Cemetery has also been known as:
- Lithuanian National Cemetery
- Westville Lithuanian Cemetery
- St. Peter & Paul Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Georgetown Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Forest Park Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Locket Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Sandusky Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dukes Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dukes Cemetery
- The Dukes Cemetery has also been known as:
- Blakeney Cemetery
- Brooks Point Cemetery
- Caraway Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dukes Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Pleasant Mount Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- McKendree Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Bock Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (339 more) ...
- Concord Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord Cemetery
- The Concord Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. Pisgah Cemetery
- Sharon Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon Cemetery
- The Sharon Cemetery has also been known as:
- Martha Smith Cemetery
- Elwood Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwood Church Cemetery
- The Elwood Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Elwood Friends Cemetery
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 Midway in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Midway.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Midway, with the one closest to Midway listed first.
- Westville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Georgetown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Grape Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Grape Creek is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape Creek
- Tilton
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Catlin
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Vandercook
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Vandercook is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandercook
- Vermilion Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Vermilion Grove is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermilion Grove
- Indianola
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Ridge Farm
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Humrick
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Humrick is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humrick
- Hillery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Hillery is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillery
- Gessie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Gessie is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gessie
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Rileysburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Rileysburg is located in Vermillion County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rileysburg
- Danville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Missionfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Missionfield is located in Vermilion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missionfield
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Midway. See our List of 1890's Communities around Midway.
Newspapers Published in Midway ...
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 140 newspapers that have been published in the area around Midway.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Midway, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Midway.
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 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 Midway:
- Websites specific to Illinois
- Pages specific to Vermilion County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Champaign County
- Douglas County
- Edgar County
- Fountain County
- Montgomery County
- Parke County
- Vermillion County
- Vigo County
- Warren 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 Midway, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Midway) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |