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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 Payson (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 Payson. 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.

Payson is located in Adams County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Adams County: Brown, Hancock, Pike, Schuyler, Lewis (MO) & Marion (MO).

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

  • Adams County     (The home county of Payson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Payson, with the one closest to Payson listed first.
    • Plainville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
      • Plainville is located in Adams County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plainville <2>
    • Adams
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fall Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fall Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Creek
      • Fall Creek is located in Adams County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fall Creek
      • From Payson to Fall Creek
    • Burton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Marblehead
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Liberty
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
      • Liberty is located in Adams County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 500 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Liberty <2>
    • Ewbanks
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Quincy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Columbus
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Columbus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
      • Columbus is located in Adams County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
    • Beverly
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beverly. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
      • Beverly is located in Adams County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Beverly
      • From Payson to Beverly
    • Fowler
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Paloma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Brown County
  • Hancock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Payson, with the one closest to Payson listed first.
    • Chili
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Bowen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowen
      • Bowen is located in Hancock County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 450 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bowen <2>
    • West Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Pike County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Payson, with the one closest to Payson listed first.
    • Hull
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hull have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
      • Hull is located in Pike County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hull <2>
    • Spencer
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Shepherd
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shepherd. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherd
      • Shepherd is located in Pike County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shepherd
      • From Payson to Shepherd
    • Kinderhook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Barry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • New Canton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Canton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Canton
      • New Canton is located in Pike County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
    • Hadley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hadley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley
      • Hadley is located in Pike County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hadley
      • From Payson to Hadley
    • Baylis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • El Dara
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Dara have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Dara
      • El Dara is located in Pike County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for El Dara <2>
    • New Salem
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Salem have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
      • New Salem is located in Pike County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
    • Rockport
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Summer Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Lewis County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Payson, with the one closest to Payson listed first.
    • La Grange
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Grange have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
      • La Grange is located in Lewis County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 892 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Grange <2>
    • Maywood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Weber
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Weber. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weber
      • Weber is located in Lewis County (MO)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Weber
      • From Payson to Weber
    • Durham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Durham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
      • Durham is located in Lewis County (MO)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durham <2>
    • Canton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
      • Canton is located in Lewis County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,314 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canton <2>
    • Gilead
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gilead. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
      • Gilead is located in Lewis County (MO)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gilead
      • From Payson to Gilead
    • Ewing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ewing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
      • Ewing is located in Lewis County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ewing <2>
    • Sellers
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sellers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sellers
      • Sellers is located in Lewis County (MO)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sellers
      • From Payson to Sellers
  • Marion County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Payson, with the one closest to Payson listed first.
    • Helton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Helton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helton
      • Helton is located in Marion County (MO)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Helton
      • From Payson to Helton
    • Cave City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cave City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave City
      • Cave City is located in Marion County (MO)
    • Hannibal
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oakwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
      • Oakwood is located in Marion County (MO)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Oakwood
      • From Payson to Oakwood
    • Dodge City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dodge City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
      • Dodge City is located in Marion County (MO)
    • Palmyra
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Taylor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Philadelphia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Philadelphia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
      • Philadelphia is located in Marion County (MO)
    • Nelsonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Monroe County (MO)
  • Pike County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Payson, with the one closest to Payson listed first.
    • Ashburn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashburn
      • Ashburn is located in Pike County (MO)
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 52 people
    • Frankford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frankford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankford
      • Frankford is located in Pike County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 314 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frankford <2>
    • Louisiana
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Ralls County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Payson, with the one closest to Payson listed first.
    • Saverton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • New London
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Rensselaer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rensselaer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rensselaer
      • Rensselaer is located in Ralls County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • The Landing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Landing
      • The Landing is located in Ralls County (MO)
    • Madisonville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Madisonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madisonville
      • Madisonville is located in Ralls County (MO)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Madisonville
      • From Payson to Madisonville

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

Cemeteries Near Payson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Payson.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Payson had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Payson had a population of 980 people.

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

  • Plainville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
    • Plainville is located in Adams County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plainville <2>
  • Fall Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fall Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Creek
    • Fall Creek is located in Adams County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Fall Creek
    • From Payson to Fall Creek
  • Seehorn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seehorn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seehorn
    • Seehorn is located in Pike County
  • Adams
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Richfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richfield
    • Richfield is located in Adams County
  • Burton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Marblehead
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Hull
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hull have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
    • Hull is located in Pike County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hull <2>
  • East Hannibal
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Hannibal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hannibal
    • East Hannibal is located in Pike County
  • Shepherd
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shepherd. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherd
    • Shepherd is located in Pike County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Shepherd
    • From Payson to Shepherd
  • Aladdin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aladdin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aladdin
    • Aladdin is located in Pike County
  • Liberty
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Liberty is located in Adams County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 500 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Liberty <2>
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Payson ...

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 149 newspapers that have been published in the area around Payson.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Payson. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Payson and those printed in the larger area surrounding Payson.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5> of Payson.

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 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 Payson:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Payson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Adams County: www.co.adams.il.us/

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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- Payson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Payson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8174, Longitude: -91.2418    
<6>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 Payson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025