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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 Raven (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 Raven. 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 and 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.

Raven is located in Edgar 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 Edgar County: Champaign, Clark, Coles, Douglas, Vermilion, Vermillion (IN) & Vigo (IN).

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

  • Edgar County     (The home county of Raven)
  • Champaign County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Broadlands
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Homer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Homer is located in Champaign County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,143 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homer <1>
    • Longview
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Ogden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Ogden is located in Champaign County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 787 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ogden <1>
    • Rutherford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Clark County
  • Coles County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Oakland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Saint Omer ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Saint Omer is located in Coles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Omer
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Newman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Murdock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Fairland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Fairland is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairland
  • Vermilion County
  • Clay County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Perth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cloverland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bee Ridge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Billtown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Carbon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Carbon is located in Clay County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 379 people
    • Lena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Benwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Staunton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Staunton is located in Clay County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staunton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 502 people
    • Brazil
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Turner
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Billville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Knightsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Knightsville is located in Clay County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 769 people
  • Fountain County (IN)
  • Montgomery County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Waveland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Waveland is located in Montgomery County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waveland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waveland <1>
    • Alamo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Alamo is located in Montgomery County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
  • Parke County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Montezuma
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Armiesburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • West Union
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Mecca
      (12 miles [19.3 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
    • Bloomingdale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Numa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Annapolis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Rockville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • West Atherton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Billie Creek Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Billie Creek Village is located in Parke County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billie Creek Village
    • Rosedale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Marshall
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Marshall is located in Parke County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
  • Putnam County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Portland Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Portland Mills is located in Putnam County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland Mills
    • Russellville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Vermillion County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Dana
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Dana is located in Vermillion County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 564 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dana
      • From Raven to Dana
    • Saint Bernice
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Alta
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Hillsdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Hillsdale is located in Vermillion County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
    • Newport
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Newport is located in Vermillion County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 475 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newport <1>
    • Blanford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Summit Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Cayuga
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Fairview Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Fairview Park is located in Vermillion County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,298 people
    • Sandytown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Eugene
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Clinton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Vigo County (IN)
  • Warren County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven listed first.
    • Foster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Baltimore ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • State Line City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • 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
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Raven ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Raven.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Raven, with the one closest to Raven 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Raven had railroad service and no post office.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Raven ...

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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Raven.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Raven, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Raven.

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 Raven:

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 Raven, 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- Raven) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.