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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 Wellesley (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 Wellesley. 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.

A Few Details for Wellesley ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Wellesley was settled in 1660.
  • It was incorporated in 1881.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Wellesley is located in Norfolk 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 Norfolk County: Bristol, Middlesex, Plymouth, Suffolk, Worcester & Providence (RI).

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

  • Norfolk County     (The home county of Wellesley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellesley, with the one closest to Wellesley listed first.
    • Wellesley Farms
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
    • Wellesley Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
    • Babson Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
    • Needham Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights
    • Needham
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Needham is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
    • Charles River Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Dover
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Westbrook Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Westbrook Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
    • Westwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Westwood is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,384 people
    • Dedham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Brookline Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Brookline Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Village
    • Brookline
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Ashcroft
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Ashcroft is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashcroft
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellesley, with the one closest to Wellesley listed first.
    • Mansfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • North Easton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • North Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Easton
    • East Mansfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • South Easton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • South Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Easton
    • Furnace Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Furnace Village is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Village
    • Easton Center
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Easton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,116 people
    • North Attleboro
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • North Attleboro is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Attleboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,470 people
    • Attleboro Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Attleboro Falls is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleboro Falls
    • Norton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Attleboro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Chartley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Chartley is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartley
    • Attleborough City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Attleborough City is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleborough City
  • Essex County
  • Middlesex County
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellesley, with the one closest to Wellesley listed first.
    • Hull
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Bayside
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Bayside is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
    • West Hingham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • West Hingham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham
    • Montello
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Hingham
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Kenberma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma
    • Brockton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • North Abington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Abington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Accord
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockland is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,992 people
    • Cochesett
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Whitman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Whitman is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,295 people
  • Suffolk County
  • Worcester County
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellesley, with the one closest to Wellesley listed first.
    • Pelham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Pelham is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,306 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelham <1>
    • Hollis Depot
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Providence County (RI)

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

Cemeteries Near Wellesley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wellesley.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wellesley, with the one closest to Wellesley 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.<5>

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

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

  • Wellesley Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
  • Wellesley Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
  • Newton Lower Falls
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Newton Lower Falls is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Lower Falls
  • Needham
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Needham is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
  • Newton Upper Falls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Newton Upper Falls is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Upper Falls
  • Waban
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodland is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
  • Auburndale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • South Natick
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • South Natick is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Natick
  • Charles River Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Eliot
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Newton Highlands
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Newton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • West Newton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • West Newton is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Newton
    • Natick
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Wellesley ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wellesley.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Wellesley. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Wellesley and those printed in the larger area surrounding Wellesley.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> of Wellesley.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Wellesley:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wellesley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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.

<5>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 Wellesley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.