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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 Wanlock (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 Wanlock. 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.

Wanlock is located in Mercer 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 Mercer County: Des Moines (IA), Louisa (IA), Henderson, Henry, Knox, Rock Island & Warren.

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

  • Mercer County     (The home county of Wanlock)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Gilchrist
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Gilchrist is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilchrist
    • Shale City
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Shale City is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale City
    • Matherville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Viola
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Preemption
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Burgess
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Burgess is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgess
    • Aledo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Griffin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Griffin is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
    • Sunbeam
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Sunbeam is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbeam
    • New Windsor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • New Windsor is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Windsor
    • Sherrard
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Norwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Norwood is located in Mercer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
  • Henderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Milroy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Milroy is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milroy
    • Rozetta
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Rozetta is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rozetta
    • Oquawka
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Biggsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Biggsville is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
    • Gladstone
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Henry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Alpha
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Ophiem
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Ophiem is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ophiem
    • Lynn Center
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Orion
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodhull
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Andover
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Osco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Morristown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Morristown is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morristown
    • Briar Bluff
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Briar Bluff is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Bluff
    • Colona
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Rock
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Green Rock is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Rock
    • Cambridge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Rio
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Henderson Grove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Henderson Grove is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson Grove
    • Henderson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Galesburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Wataga
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Oneida
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Altona
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • East Galesburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • East Galesburg is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Galesburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 761 people
    • Knox
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Knox is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox
    • Knoxville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Abingdon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Victoria
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Rock Island County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Reynolds
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Taylor Ridge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Coyne Center
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Coyne Center is located in Rock Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coyne Center
    • Oak Grove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Oak Grove is located in Rock Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
    • Edgington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Edgington is located in Rock Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgington
    • Buffalo Prairie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Andalusia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Milan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Milan is located in Rock Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,945 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <1>
    • Coal Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Illinois City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Illinois City is located in Rock Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Illinois City
    • Rock Island
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Moline
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Moline is located in Rock Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moline
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,065 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moline <1>
  • Warren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Shanghai City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Shanghai City is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai City
    • Little York
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Eleanor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Eleanor is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eleanor
    • Gerlaw
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Utah
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Utah is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utah
    • Monmouth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Surrey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Surrey is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surrey
    • Cameron
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Kirkwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Berwick
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Smithshire
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Des Moines County (IA)
    • Kingston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Kingston is located in Des Moines County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
  • Louisa County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Oakville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Elrick Junction
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Elrick Junction is located in Louisa County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrick Junction
    • Grandview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Grandview is located in Louisa County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
    • Wapello
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Wapello is located in Louisa County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wapello
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,999 people
  • Muscatine County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Midway Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Midway Beach is located in Muscatine County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Beach
    • Fairport
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairport is located in Muscatine County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
    • Pine Mills ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pine Mills is located in Muscatine County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills
    • Pleasant Prairie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Prairie is located in Muscatine County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
    • Muscatine
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Muscatine is located in Muscatine County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatine
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,523 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Muscatine <1>
    • Fruitland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Fruitland is located in Muscatine County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 966 people
    • Stockton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Stockton is located in Muscatine County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
  • Scott County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wanlock, with the one closest to Wanlock listed first.
    • Buffalo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Buffalo is located in Scott County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,257 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo <1>
    • Blue Grass
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Bettendorf
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Davenport
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Riverdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Riverdale is located in Scott County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people
    • Panorama Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Panorama Park is located in Scott County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
    • Pleasant Valley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Walcott
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Walcott is located in Scott County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walcott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,627 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walcott <1>
    • Le Claire
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Eldridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Hickory Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Hickory Grove is located in Scott County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
    • Durant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Durant is located in Scott County (IA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,857 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durant <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Wanlock ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wanlock.

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

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

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

  • Carnahan Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Graham Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Viola Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • St. John's Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Farlows Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Joseph's Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Corns Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Bridger Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cooper Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Sugar Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Artz Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Aledo Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (286 more) ...
    • Hopewell Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Cemetery
      • The Hopewell Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Woodhams Cemetery
    • McClure Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • McPherren Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)

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 Wanlock in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wanlock.

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

  • Gilchrist
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Gilchrist is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilchrist
  • Viola
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Preemption
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Griffin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Griffin is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
  • Cable
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Cable is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable
  • Sunbeam
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunbeam is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbeam
  • Reynolds
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hamlet
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Hamlet is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
  • Norwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Norwood is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
  • New Windsor
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • New Windsor is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Windsor
  • Swedona
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Swedona is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedona
  • Millersburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Millersburg is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Taylor Ridge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Alexis
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • North Henderson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Wanlock ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wanlock.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wanlock, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wanlock.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Wanlock:

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 Wanlock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Wanlock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.