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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 Wolf Lake (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 Wolf Lake. 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.

Name Variations for Wolf Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Wolf Lake: Wolf Lk.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Wolf Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wolf Lake.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Wolf Lake is located in Mason 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 Mason County: Cass, Fulton, Logan, Menard, Schuyler & Tazewell.

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

  • Mason County     (The home county of Wolf Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • White City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • White City is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Snicarte
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Snicarte is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snicarte
    • Bath
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Kilbourne
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Branch
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Long Branch is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
    • Havana
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Poplar City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Easton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Teheran
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Teheran is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teheran
    • Topeka
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Buzzville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Buzzville is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzville
    • Goofy Ridge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Goofy Ridge is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goofy Ridge
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Cooperstown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Cooperstown is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooperstown
    • Ripley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Ripley is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 82 people
    • Versailles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Chandlerville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Sylvan ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Sylvan is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan
    • Newmansville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Newmansville is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newmansville
    • Virginia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jules
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jules is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jules
    • Burlingame
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Burlingame is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlingame
    • Philadelphia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Philadelphia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
    • Bluff Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Gurney ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Gurney is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurney
    • Old Princeton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Old Princeton is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Princeton
    • Oak Grove
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Oak Grove is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Ashland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Fulton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Marbletown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Marbletown is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marbletown
    • Astoria
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Summum
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Summum is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summum
    • Sepo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Sepo is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sepo
    • Ipava
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Vermont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lewistown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Liverpool
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Table Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Bryant
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Smithfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Cuba
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Cuba is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,149 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cuba <1>
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Middletown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • New Holland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • McDonough County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Adair
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Doddsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Doddsville is located in McDonough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doddsville
    • Industry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Menard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Oakford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Tallula
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Petersburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Greenview
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Athens
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Croft
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Croft is located in Menard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croft
  • Morgan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Literberry
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Prentice
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Prentice is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prentice
    • Arcadia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Arcadia is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
    • Concord
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jacksonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Alexander
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Arnold
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Arnold is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
    • Chapin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • South Jacksonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • South Jacksonville is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Jacksonville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,075 people
    • Morgan City ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Morgan City is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan City
    • Pisgah
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Pisgah is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisgah
    • Meredosia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Sangamon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Pleasant Plains
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Salisbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Salisbury is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
    • Cantrall
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Berlin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Berlin is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
    • New Berlin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Pasfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Pasfield is located in Sangamon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasfield
  • Schuyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wolf Lake, with the one closest to Wolf Lake listed first.
    • Bluff City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Bluff City is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
    • Browning
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Bader
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Bader is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bader
    • Frederick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Rushville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Littleton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Wayland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Wayland is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland

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

Cemeteries Near Wolf Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wolf Lake.

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 Wolf Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Chandler Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Chandler Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Chandlerville.
    • The Chandler Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Chandlerville Cemetery
    • Chandlerville City Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #172039 <2>
  • Harbison - Davis Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Roat Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Snicarte Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bell Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Bath Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Pontiac Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Hickey Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (425 more) ...
    • Little Shepherd Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Witty Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pratt Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Saidora
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Saidora is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saidora
  • Chandlerville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Snicarte
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Snicarte is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snicarte
  • Anderson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Anderson is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
  • Sylvan ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sylvan is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan
  • Bath
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Bluff City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bluff City is located in Schuyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
  • Kilbourne
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Conover
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Conover is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conover
  • Newmansville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Newmansville is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newmansville
  • Oakford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Sheldons Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Sheldons Grove is located in Schuyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheldons Grove
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Cass ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Cass is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cass
    • Jules
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jules is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jules
    • Virginia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Wolf Lake ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wolf Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wolf Lake, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wolf Lake.

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 helpful 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 Wolf Lake:

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 Wolf Lake, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wolf Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.