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 Watson (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 Watson. 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.
Watson is located in Franklin 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 Franklin County : Berkshire , Hampshire , Worcester , Cheshire (NH) & Windham (VT) .
Below are the counties that are near Watson. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Watson:
Franklin County (The home county of Watson)
The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
Hawley (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Hawley is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley Population from the 2020 Census: 335 people
Ashfield (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Ashfield is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashfield Population from the 2020 Census: 1,720 people
South Ashfield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
South Ashfield is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ashfield West Hawley (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
West Hawley is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hawley Buckland (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Buckland is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckland Population from the 2020 Census: 1,851 people
Charlemont (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Charlemont is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlemont Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
Shelburne Falls (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Shelburne Falls is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelburne Falls Conway (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
Conway is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway Population from the 2020 Census: 1,875 people
Dell (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
Dell is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dell Heath (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
Heath is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
Shattuckville (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Shattuckville is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shattuckville Shelburne (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Shelburne is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelburne Population from the 2020 Census: 1,840 people
Griswoldville (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Griswoldville is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griswoldville Berkshire County
The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
East Windsor (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
East Windsor is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Windsor Savoy (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Savoy is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savoy Population from the 2020 Census: 676 people
Drury (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
Drury is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drury Savoy Center (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
Savoy Center is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savoy Center Former name for Savoy Center:
Savoy Centre(Er) Windsor (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Windsor is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Population from the 2020 Census: 860 people
Florida (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
Florida is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florida Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
Peru (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
Peru is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru Population from the 2020 Census: 833 people
Adams (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Adams is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Population from the 2020 Census: 7,955 people
Renfrew (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Renfrew is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renfrew Arnoldville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Arnoldville is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnoldville Hinsdale (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Hinsdale is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinsdale Population from the 2020 Census: 1,902 people
Cheshire (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Cheshire is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheshire Population from the 2020 Census: 3,105 people
Town Crest Village (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Town Crest Village is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Crest Village Hampden County
The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
North Chester (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
North Chester is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Chester Chester Center (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
Chester Center is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Center Former name for Chester Center:
Chester Centre Chester (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
Chester is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Population from the 2020 Census: 1,365 people
Montgomery (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
Montgomery is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery Population from the 2020 Census: 863 people
North Blandford (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
North Blandford is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Blandford Blandford (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Blandford is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blandford Population from the 2020 Census: 1,249 people
Russell (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Russell is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Population from the 2020 Census: 1,787 people
Woronoco (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Woronoco is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woronoco Hampton Village (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Hampton Village is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton Village Holyoke (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Holyoke is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holyoke Population from the 2020 Census: 39,921 people
Aldenville (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Aldenville is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldenville Ludlow City (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Ludlow City is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow City Chicopee (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Chicopee is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicopee Population from the 2020 Census: 54,825 people
Hampshire County
The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
Plainfield (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Plainfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield Population from the 2020 Census: 663 people
Cummington (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Cummington is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummington Population from the 2020 Census: 873 people
Swift River (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Swift River is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift River Goshen (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
Goshen is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen Population from the 2020 Census: 1,057 people
West Chesterfield (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
West Chesterfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chesterfield Worthington Corners (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Worthington Corners is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worthington Corners Chesterfield (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
Chesterfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterfield Population from the 2020 Census: 1,250 people
Williamsburg (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Williamsburg is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg Population from the 2020 Census: 2,462 people
Worthington (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
Worthington is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worthington Population from the 2020 Census: 1,176 people
Haydenville (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Haydenville is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haydenville North Hatfield (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
North Hatfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hatfield Leeds (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Leeds is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds Middlefield (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Middlefield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlefield Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
Worcester County
North Dana ‑ Historic(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
North Dana was located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dana Cheshire County (NH)
The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
Hinsdale (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Ashuelot (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Winchester (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Rensselaer County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
Wyomanock (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Wyomanock is located in Rensselaer County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyomanock Stephentown (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Center Berlin (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Center Berlin is located in Rensselaer County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Berlin Berlin (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Berlin is located in Rensselaer County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin Bennington County (VT)
The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
Readsboro (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Stamford (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Readsboro (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Readsboro is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Readsboro Population from the 2020 Census: 720 people
Stamford (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Stamford is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stamford Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
Searsburg (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
Searsburg is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searsburg Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
Pownal (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
Pownal is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pownal Population from the 2020 Census: 3,386 people
Pownal Center (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Pownal Center is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pownal Center Former name for Pownal Center:
Pownal Centre Woodford (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Woodford is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people
Woodford (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Woodford Hollow (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Woodford Hollow is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford Hollow Bennington (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Bennington (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Bennington is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington Population from the 2020 Census: 14,897 people
Old Bennington (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Old Bennington is located in Bennington County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Bennington Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
Windham County (VT)
The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
Whitingham (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Whitingham is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitingham Population from the 2020 Census: 1,271 people
Halifax (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Halifax is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halifax Jacksonville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
West Halifax (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Whitingham (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Halifax (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Halifax is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halifax Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
Guilford (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Guilford is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford Population from the 2020 Census: 2,102 people
Wilmington (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Ames Hill (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Ames Hill is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ames Hill Marlboro (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Guilford (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
South Vernon (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
South Vernon is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Vernon Vernon (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Vernon is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon Population from the 2020 Census: 2,190 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Watson, see our County-by-County Page for Watson .
Cemeteries Near Watson ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watson.
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 Watson - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Watson covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
Doane Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Hill Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Ashfield Plain Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
North Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Allis Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Dawes Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawes Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Dawes Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> Cummington . Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #CUM.804 <2>
Leavitt Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Bryant Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Goshen Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
Shaw Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
East Windsor Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
North Shirkshire Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
Continue List (398 more) ...
Brier Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
Mt. Cemetery (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Cricket Hill Cemetery (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Watson in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Watson.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
Spruce Corner (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Spruce Corner is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Corner Hawley (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Hawley is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley Population from the 2020 Census: 335 people
Ashfield (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Ashfield is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashfield Population from the 2020 Census: 1,720 people
South Ashfield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
South Ashfield is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ashfield West Hawley (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
West Hawley is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hawley Cummington (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Cummington is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummington Population from the 2020 Census: 873 people
Buckland (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Buckland is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckland Population from the 2020 Census: 1,851 people
Swift River (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Swift River is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift River East Charlemont (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
East Charlemont is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Charlemont Charlemont (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Charlemont is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlemont Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
East Windsor (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
East Windsor is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Windsor Goshen (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
Goshen is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen Population from the 2020 Census: 1,057 people
Continue List (14 more) ...
Conway (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
Conway is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway Population from the 2020 Census: 1,875 people
Zoar (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
Zoar is also located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zoar West Chesterfield (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
West Chesterfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chesterfield
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Watson. See our List of 1890's Communities around Watson .
Newspapers Published in Watson ...
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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watson.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watson, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3> Extended Newspaper List for Watson.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Watson:
Websites specific to Massachusetts Pages specific to Franklin County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Berkshire County Hampden County Hampshire County Worcester County Cheshire County Rensselaer County Bennington County Windham County Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Watson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. 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 . 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- Watson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. 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 Watson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.