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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 Swift (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 Swift. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Swift is located in DuPage 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 DuPage County: Cook, Kane, Kendall & Will.

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

  • DuPage County     (The home county of Swift)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swift, with the one closest to Swift listed first.
    • Addison
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Glendale Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Bloomingdale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lombard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Glen Ellyn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Itasca
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Medinah
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Wood Dale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Roselle
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Villa Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Villa Park is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,291 people
    • Carol Stream
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cloverdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
    • Bensenville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swift, with the one closest to Swift listed first.
    • Elk Grove Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Berkeley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Hillside
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Northlake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Schaumburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hanover Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bellwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Bellwood is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,436 people
      • Bellwood has also been known as:
      • Bellwood village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellwood <1>
    • Franklin Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Stone Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Melrose Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Schiller Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Rosemont
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Streamwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Kane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swift, with the one closest to Swift listed first.
    • Coleman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Coleman is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
    • Geneva
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Saint Charles
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Elgin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Batavia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • South Elgin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • South Elgin is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elgin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,646 people
    • East Dundee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mooseheart
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonnie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Bonnie is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie
      • Bonnie has also been known as:
      • Bonnie Valley
    • Aurora
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • North Aurora
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • North Aurora is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,144 people
    • Carpentersville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Campton Hills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Campton Hills is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campton Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,063 people
      • Campton Hills has also been known as:
      • Campton Hills village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campton Hills <1>
  • Kendall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swift, with the one closest to Swift listed first.
    • Boulder Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Boulder Hill is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boulder Hill
    • Montgomery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Oswego
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bristol
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Yorkville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Little Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Little Rock is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
    • Plano
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Plano is located in Kendall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plano <1>
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swift, with the one closest to Swift listed first.
    • Buffalo Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Deer Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Aptakisic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Aptakisic is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aptakisic
    • Kildeer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Riverwoods
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Forest Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Forest Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
    • Lake Zurich
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Long Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Prairie View
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Prairie View is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
    • Deerfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Lincolnshire
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • North Barrington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • North Barrington is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,938 people
    • Bannockburn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • McHenry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swift, with the one closest to Swift listed first.
    • Fox River Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Algonquin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cary
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Cary is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,929 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <1>
    • Lake-in-the-Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Trout Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Trout Valley is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 508 people
    • Oakwood Hills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Oakwood Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,011 people
    • Island Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Island Lake is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
    • Crystal Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Huntley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Holiday Hills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
    • Barreville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Barreville is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barreville
    • Lakewood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Prairie Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
  • Will County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swift, with the one closest to Swift listed first.
    • Colonial Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Colonial Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Winston Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Winston Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston Village
    • Bolingbrook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Bloomfield Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bloomfield Village is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield Village
    • Romeoville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Goodings Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Goodings Grove is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodings Grove
    • Normantown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Normantown is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normantown
    • Homer Glen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Homer Glen is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer Glen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,281 people
      • Homer Glen has also been known as:
      • Homer Glen village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homer Glen <1>
    • Lockport
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Walker
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Walker is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker
    • Plainfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Crystal Lawns
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
    • Crest Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Swift ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swift.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Swift, with the one closest to Swift 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>

While we didn't find Swift in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Swift.

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

  • Addison
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • South Addison
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • South Addison is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Addison
  • Gretna
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gretna is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gretna
  • Glen Ellyn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lombard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bloomingdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Roselle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Itasca
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Cloverdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cloverdale is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Wheaton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Utopia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Utopia is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utopia
  • South Elmhurst
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • South Elmhurst is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Elmhurst
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Elmhurst
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Bensenville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Elk Grove Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Swift ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Swift.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swift, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swift.

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 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 Swift:

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 Swift, 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 from Point A (ie- Swift) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.