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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 Howe (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 Howe. 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.

Howe is located in Essex County.

To see how the shape of Massachusetts' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Essex County: Middlesex, Suffolk & Rockingham (NH).

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

  • Essex County     (The home county of Howe)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howe, with the one closest to Howe listed first.
    • Middleton
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Hathorne
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Brigadoon Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Brigadoon Village is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brigadoon Village
    • Beaver Brook ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Beaver Brook is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Brook
    • Topsfield
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • West Peabody
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Danvers
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Boxford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Boxford is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,331 people
    • Lynnfield
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Wenham
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Asbury Grove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Beverly
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howe, with the one closest to Howe listed first.
    • North Reading
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Montrose
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Reading
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Reading is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,535 people
    • West Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • West Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Village
    • Wakefield
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lindenwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Lindenwood is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindenwood
    • Mishawum ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Stoneham
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Walnut Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilmington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Melrose
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Montvale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Norfolk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howe, with the one closest to Howe listed first.
    • Brookline Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Brookline Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Village
    • Brookline
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Westbrook Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Westbrook Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
    • Montclair
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Norfolk Downs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Wollaston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • East Milton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Milton Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Milton Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Village
    • Quincy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • West Quincy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Wellesley Farms
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
    • Babson Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howe, with the one closest to Howe listed first.
    • Hull
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Hull is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,484 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hull
      • From Howe to Hull
    • Bayside
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Bayside is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
    • Kenberma
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma
    • Hingham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • West Hingham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • West Hingham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham
    • Minot
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Minot is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minot
    • North Scituate
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • North Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate
    • Accord
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Scituate
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scituate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,047 people
  • Suffolk County
  • Worcester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howe, with the one closest to Howe listed first.
    • Shaker Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Shaker Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
    • Harvard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
  • Rockingham County (NH)

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

Cemeteries Near Howe ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Howe.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Howe, with the one closest to Howe 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Howe had a population of 100 people in 1895 with railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Middleton
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Danvers Center
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Danvers Center is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danvers Center
  • Beaver Brook ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Beaver Brook is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Brook
  • West Peabody
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Tapleyville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tapleyville is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tapleyville
  • Danvers
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Putnamville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Putnamville is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putnamville
  • Topsfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • North Reading
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Lynnfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Proctor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Proctor is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor
  • Boxford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Boxford is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxford
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,331 people
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Boxford Station
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Boxford Station is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxford Station
    • Danversport
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Danversport is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danversport
    • North Beverly
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • North Beverly is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Beverly

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

Newspapers Published in Howe ...

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 107 newspapers that have been published in the area around Howe.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Howe, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Howe.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Howe:

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>The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MACRIS (for the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System). More information about the MHC and MACRIS can be found on their website: mhc-macris.net.

When visiting the MACRIS website, you might encounter their page requiring the 'Acceptance of Terms'. With your acceptance, you'll be transfered to the desired page.

<4>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 Howe, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Howe) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.