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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 Sherman (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 Sherman. 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.

Sherman is located in Sangamon 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 Sangamon County: Christian, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery & Morgan.

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

  • Sangamon County     (The home county of Sherman)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sherman, with the one closest to Sherman listed first.
    • Spaulding
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spaulding have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
      • Spaulding is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 836 people
    • Cantrall
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cantrall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cantrall
      • Cantrall is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cantrall <2>
    • Ridgely
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ridgely. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
      • Ridgely is located in Sangamon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ridgely
      • From Sherman to Ridgely
    • Riverton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
      • Riverton is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverton <2>
    • Williamsville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
      • Williamsville is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,490 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Williamsville <2>
    • Clear Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clear Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Clear Lake is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
    • Grandview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
      • Grandview is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,369 people
    • Springfield
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Buffalo Hart
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Dawson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
      • Dawson is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawson <2>
    • Hawthorne Place
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Leland Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leland Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland Grove
      • Leland Grove is located in Sangamon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,451 people
  • Cass County
  • Christian County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sherman, with the one closest to Sherman listed first.
    • Bolivia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Edinburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Grove City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
      • Grove City is located in Christian County
    • Mount Auburn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Tovey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tovey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tovey
      • Tovey is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tovey <2>
    • Bulpitt
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bulpitt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bulpitt
      • Bulpitt is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bulpitt <2>
    • Jeisyville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jeisyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeisyville
      • Jeisyville is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Kincaid
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kincaid have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kincaid
      • Kincaid is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,362 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kincaid <2>
    • Sharpsburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sharpsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
      • Sharpsburg is located in Christian County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sharpsburg
      • From Sherman to Sharpsburg
    • Zenobia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Zenobia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenobia
      • Zenobia is located in Christian County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Zenobia
      • From Sherman to Zenobia
    • Stonington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stonington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonington
      • Stonington is located in Christian County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 835 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stonington <2>
    • Taylorville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • De Witt County
  • Logan County
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sherman, with the one closest to Sherman listed first.
    • Niantic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Warrensburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warrensburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrensburg
      • Warrensburg is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,112 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warrensburg <2>
    • Harristown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harristown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harristown
      • Harristown is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harristown <2>
    • Blue Mound
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Mound have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mound
      • Blue Mound is located in Macon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,065 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Mound <2>
    • Boody
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Macoupin County
  • Mason County
  • Menard County
  • Montgomery County
    • White Oak
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for White Oak. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
      • White Oak is located in Montgomery County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to White Oak
      • From Sherman to White Oak
  • Morgan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sherman, with the one closest to Sherman listed first.
    • Prentice
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Alexander
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Waverly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waverly have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
      • Waverly is located in Morgan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,182 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waverly <2>
    • Franklin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Franklin is located in Morgan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <2>
    • Arnold
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arnold. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
      • Arnold is located in Morgan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arnold
      • From Sherman to Arnold

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

Cemeteries Near Sherman ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sherman.

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 Sherman covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Kern Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kern Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kern Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bissell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bissell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bissell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wolf Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wolf Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wolf Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stewart Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stewart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stewart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brittin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brittin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brittin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fancy Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fancy Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fancy Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Camp Butler National Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Butler National Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camp Butler National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ladysmith Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ladysmith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ladysmith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lincoln Tomb
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Tomb
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Tomb have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (293 more) ...
    • Roselawn Memorial Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roselawn Memorial Park
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roselawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Taylor Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Bice Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bice Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bice Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Sherman had a population of 128 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Sherman had a population of 4,660 people.

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

  • Spaulding
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spaulding have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spaulding
    • Spaulding is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 836 people
  • Ridgely
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ridgely. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
    • Ridgely is located in Sangamon County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ridgely
    • From Sherman to Ridgely
  • Riverton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
    • Riverton is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,430 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverton <2>
  • Barclay
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barclay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barclay
    • Barclay is located in Sangamon County
  • Cantrall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cantrall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cantrall
    • Cantrall is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cantrall <2>
  • Williamsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
    • Williamsville is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,490 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Williamsville <2>
  • Springfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Fancy Prairie
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fancy Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Prairie
    • Fancy Prairie is located in Menard County
  • Athens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Bradfordton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradfordton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradfordton
    • Bradfordton is located in Sangamon County
  • Dawson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
    • Dawson is located in Sangamon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawson <2>
  • Buffalo Hart
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Sherman ...

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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sherman.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sherman, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sherman.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Sherman:

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

The official website for Sangamon County: www.co.sangamon.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>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 Sherman, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Sherman) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sherman. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8913, Longitude: -89.6064    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025