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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 Russell (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 Russell. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Russell is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Cook, McHenry, Allegan (MI), Berrien (MI), Van Buren (MI) & Kenosha (WI).

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Russell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Fossland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Beach Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Winthrop Harbor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Wadsworth
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Zion
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Old Mill Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Millburn
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Grandwood Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Grandwood Park is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandwood Park
    • Lindenhurst
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lindenhurst is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindenhurst
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,117 people
      • Lindenhurst has also been known as:
      • Lindenhurst village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lindenhurst <1>
    • Gurnee
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Spaulding Corners
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Spaulding Corners is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding Corners
    • Antioch
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Cook County
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Pistakee Highlands
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Pistakee Highlands is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pistakee Highlands
    • Spring Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Sunnyside
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Sunnyside is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Johnsburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakemoor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Solon Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Holiday Hills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
    • Island Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Island Lake is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
    • Richmond
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Ringwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • McCullom Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • McCullom Lake is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCullom Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 996 people
    • McHenry
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Kenosha County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Pleasant Prairie
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Prairie is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,373 people
    • Fossland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Woodworth
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Kenosha
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Bristol
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Benet Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Lake Shangrila
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Somers
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Somers is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somers
    • Paddock Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Paddock Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,232 people
    • Salem Lakes
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Paris
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Camp Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Camp Lake is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Lake
  • Milwaukee County (WI)
  • Racine County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Elmwood Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Sturtevant
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,048 people
    • Union Grove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Union Grove is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,266 people
    • Racine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Franksville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Franksville is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franksville
    • Yorkville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Yorkville is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
    • Eagle Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Eagle Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake
    • North Bay
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • North Bay is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
    • Bohners Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Bohners Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohners Lake
    • Caledonia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Browns Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Browns Lake is located in Racine County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Lake
  • Walworth County (WI)
  • Waukesha County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell listed first.
    • Durham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Muskego
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Muskego is located in Waukesha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskego
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,317 people
    • Big Bend
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Big Bend is located in Waukesha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,487 people

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

Cemeteries Near Russell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Russell.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Russell, with the one closest to Russell 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Russell had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Rosecrans
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosecrans is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosecrans
  • Pleasant Prairie
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Prairie is located in Kenosha County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,373 people
  • Wadsworth
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Truesdell
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Truesdell is located in Kenosha County (WI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truesdell
  • Millburn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodworth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Gurnee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Kenosha
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Bristol
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Antioch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Loon Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Loon Lake is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loon Lake
  • Lake Villa
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Waukegan
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rollins
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Rollins is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollins
    • Somers
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Somers is located in Kenosha County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somers

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

Newspapers Published in Russell ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Russell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Russell, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Russell.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Russell:

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>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- Russell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Russell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.