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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 Tovey (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 Tovey. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Tovey is located in Christian 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 Christian County: Macon, Montgomery, Sangamon & Shelby.

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

  • Christian County     (The home county of Tovey)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tovey, with the one closest to Tovey listed first.
    • Bulpitt
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Kincaid
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jeisyville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Jeisyville is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeisyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
    • Langleyville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Langleyville is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langleyville
    • Sharpsburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Sharpsburg is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
    • Edinburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Zenobia
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Zenobia is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenobia
    • Taylorville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Clarksdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Clarksdale is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksdale
    • Palmer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Grove City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Grove City is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove City
    • Morrisonville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tovey, with the one closest to Tovey listed first.
    • Cornland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Lake Fork
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Elkhart
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Mount Pulaski
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Latham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tovey, with the one closest to Tovey listed first.
    • Blue Mound
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Niantic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Boody
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Macon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Harristown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Elwin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Macoupin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tovey, with the one closest to Tovey listed first.
    • Virden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Girard
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Nilwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Standard City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Standard City is located in Macoupin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
    • Modesto
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Palmyra
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Menard County
    • Athens
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tovey, with the one closest to Tovey listed first.
    • White Oak
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • White Oak is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
    • Farmersville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Harvel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Waggoner
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Raymond
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Ohlman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Wenonah
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Wenonah is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wenonah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Nokomis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Coalton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Coalton is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 282 people
    • Witt
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Witt is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 833 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Witt <1>
    • Shop Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Shop Creek is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shop Creek
    • Honey Bend
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Honey Bend is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Bend
  • Morgan County
    • Waverly
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Sangamon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tovey, with the one closest to Tovey listed first.
    • New City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • New City is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
    • Pawnee
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Commanche Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Commanche Village is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commanche Village
    • Glenarm
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Divernon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Rochester
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Chatham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mechanicsburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Southern View
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Southern View is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southern View
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,557 people
    • Woodside
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodside is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
    • Auburn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Clear Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Clear Lake is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
  • Shelby County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tovey, with the one closest to Tovey listed first.
    • Moweaqua
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Oconee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Tower Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Yantisville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Yantisville is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yantisville

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

Cemeteries Near Tovey ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tovey.

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

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

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

  • Bethany Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Achenback Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Finley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Goode Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Langley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Edinburg Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Durbin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Bethel Baptist Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Breckenridge Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (273 more) ...
    • Zion Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Horse Creek Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • South Fork Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)

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.<2>

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

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

  • Sharpsburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sharpsburg is located in Christian County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
  • Edinburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Zenobia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Zenobia is located in Christian County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenobia
  • Breckenridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Breckenridge is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
  • New City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • New City is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
  • Pawnee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • White Oak
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • White Oak is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
  • Clarksdale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Clarksdale is located in Christian County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksdale
  • Taylorville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Berry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Berry is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry
  • Palmer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Glenarm
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Pawnee Junction
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Pawnee Junction is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee Junction
    • Morrisonville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Willeys
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Willeys is located in Christian County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willeys

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

Newspapers Published in Tovey ...

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 231 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tovey.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Tovey, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Tovey.

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 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 Tovey:

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>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 Tovey, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Tovey) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.