RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Wicomico County >> Wil-e-lew >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Wil-e-lew (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 Wil-e-lew. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Wil-e-lew is located in Wicomico County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Wicomico County: Sussex (DE), Dorchester, Somerset & Worcester.

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

  • Wicomico County     (The home county of Wil-e-lew)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.
    • Parsonsburg
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Pittsville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Willards
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • White Plains
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • White Plains is located in Wicomico County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
    • New Hope
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • New Hope is located in Wicomico County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
    • Powellville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Powellville is located in Wicomico County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellville
    • Delmar
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Salisbury
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Whiton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Whiton is located in Wicomico County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
    • Dogwood Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Dogwood Village is located in Wicomico County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood Village
    • Cedar Hurst Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Cedar Hurst Village is located in Wicomico County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hurst Village
    • Fruitland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Caroline County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.
    • Federalsburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hynson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hynson is located in Caroline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hynson
  • Dorchester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.
    • Galestown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Galestown is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galestown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
    • Walnut Landing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Walnut Landing is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Landing
    • Vienna
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Reliance
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Reliance is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
    • Rabbit Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Rabbit Town is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
    • Brookview
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Brookview is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
    • Eldorado
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Eldorado is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
    • Finchville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Finchville is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchville
    • Rhodesdale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Marshyhope Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Marshyhope Village is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshyhope Village
    • Salem
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Salem is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
    • Hurlock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.
    • Eden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Eden is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
    • Loretto
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Loretto is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
    • Princess Anne
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Costen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Costen is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costen
    • West Pocomoke
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • West Pocomoke is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pocomoke
    • Mount Vernon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Mount Vernon is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
    • Somersett Town ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Somersett Town is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somersett Town
    • Westover
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Champ
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Champ is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champ
    • Monie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Monie is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monie
    • Oriole
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Oriole is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oriole
    • Manokin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Manokin is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manokin
  • Worcester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.
    • Whaleyville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Bishop
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Bishop is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
    • Berlin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Berlin is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,940 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berlin <1>
    • Showell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Showell is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Showell
    • Newark
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bishopville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Snow Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Cedartown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cedartown is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedartown
    • Ocean Pines
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • West Ocean City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • West Ocean City is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Ocean City
    • North Ocean City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • North Ocean City is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ocean City
    • Girdletree
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Girdletree is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girdletree
  • Sussex County (DE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.
    • Ward
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Ward is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
    • Delmar
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Delmar is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delmar
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Delmar <1>
    • Mission
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Mission is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
    • Laurel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Laurel is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,511 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laurel <1>
    • Selbyville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Frankford
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Dagsboro
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bethel
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Bethel is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bethel <1>
    • Millsboro
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Omar
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Omar is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omar
    • Bunting
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Bunting is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunting
    • Roxana
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Roxana is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana
  • Accomack County (VA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.
    • Franklin City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Franklin City is located in Accomack County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin City
    • Greenbackville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Sign Post
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Sign Post is located in Accomack County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sign Post
    • Sinnickson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Sinnickson is located in Accomack County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinnickson

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

Cemeteries Near Wil-e-lew ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wil-e-lew.

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 Wil-e-lew - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.

  • Jerusalem Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Hammond Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Melson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Farlows Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Dennis Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Willards Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Oliphant Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Colbourne Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Twilley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (191 more) ...
    • Nichols Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hustons Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Wicomico Memorial Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)

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 Wil-e-lew in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wil-e-lew.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Wil-e-lew, with the one closest to Wil-e-lew listed first.

  • Parsonsburg
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Walston
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Walston is located in Wicomico County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walston
  • Pittsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Whitesville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Whitesville is located in Sussex County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
  • Wango
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Wango is located in Wicomico County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wango
  • Truitt
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Truitt is located in Wicomico County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truitt
  • Ward
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Ward is located in Sussex County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
  • Powellville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Powellville is located in Wicomico County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellville
  • New Hope
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • New Hope is located in Wicomico County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
  • Twilley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Twilley is located in Wicomico County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley
  • Salisbury
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Gumboro
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gumboro is located in Sussex County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gumboro
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Delmar
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Delmar is located in Sussex County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delmar
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Delmar <1>
    • Whiton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Whiton is located in Wicomico County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
    • Colbourne
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Colbourne is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colbourne

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

Newspapers Published in Wil-e-lew ...

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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wil-e-lew.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wil-e-lew, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wil-e-lew.

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 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 Wil-e-lew:

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 Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MIHP (for the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties). More information about the MHT and MIHP can be found on their website: mht.maryland.gov.
<3>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.
<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 Wil-e-lew, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wil-e-lew) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.