Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Dead River. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Dead River to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Dead River, please Contact Us.
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 Dead River (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 Dead River. 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 Dead River ...
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.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Dead River: Dead Riv.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Dead River. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Dead River.
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 northwest 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 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Dead River is historic, it would have been located within present day Franklin County.
To see how the shape of Maine's 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: Androscoggin, Kennebec, Oxford & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Dead River. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Dead River:
- Franklin County (The home county of Dead River)
- The following are listed by their distance from Dead River, with the one closest to Dead River listed first.
- Dallas Plantation
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Dallas Plantation is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas Plantation
- Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
- Rangeley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Sandy River Plantation
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sandy River Plantation is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy River Plantation
- Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
- Coplin Plantation
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Coplin Plantation is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coplin Plantation
- Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
- Mountainview
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Mountainview is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainview
- Oquossoc
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Eustis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Stratton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Davis Town
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Davis Town is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis Town
- East Madrid
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Madrid is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Madrid
- Madrid
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bemis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bemis is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bemis
- Bigelow
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bigelow is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
- Oxford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Dead River, with the one closest to Dead River listed first.
- Upper Dam
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Upper Dam is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Dam
- Byron
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Byron is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
- Magalloway Plantation
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Magalloway Plantation is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magalloway Plantation
- Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
- Lincoln Plantation
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Lincoln Plantation is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Plantation
- Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
- Roxbury
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Middle Dam
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Middle Dam is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Dam
- Wilsons Mills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Wilsons Mills is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsons Mills
- Andover
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- East Andover
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- East Andover is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Andover
- South Andover
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- South Andover is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Andover
- Upton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mexico
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Rumford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Dead River, with the one closest to Dead River listed first.
- Highland Plantation
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Highland Plantation is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Plantation
- Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
- New Portland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- East New Portland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- East New Portland is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East New Portland
- Pleasant Ridge Plantation
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Ridge Plantation is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge Plantation
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Coos County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Dead River, with the one closest to Dead River listed first.
- Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Second College Grant
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Second College Grant is located in Coos County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Second College Grant
- Dixs Grant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Dixs Grant is located in Coos County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixs Grant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1 people
- Idlewilde
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Idlewilde is located in Coos County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewilde
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Dead River, see our County-by-County Page for Dead River.
Cemeteries Near Dead River ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dead River.
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 Dead River - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Dead River covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Dead River, with the one closest to Dead River listed first.
- Rangeley Village Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Madrid Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Eustis Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Flagstaff Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Riverside Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Phillips - Maine Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Avon Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Stockbridge Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Robertson Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Center Hill Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (22 more) ...
- Strong Town Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- West Byron Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Flagstaff Cemetery
(24 miles [38.6 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.
Dead River itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Dead River, with the one closest to Dead River listed first.
- Rangeley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Madrid
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Madrid
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Madrid is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Madrid
- Eustis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Stratton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bemis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bemis is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bemis
- Salem
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Salem is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
- Phillips
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Byron
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Byron is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
- Kingfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Wilsons Mills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Wilsons Mills is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsons Mills
- Middle Dam
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Middle Dam is located in Oxford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Dam
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Roxbury
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Weld
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Strong
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Dead River. See our List of 1890's Communities around Dead River.
Newspapers Published in Dead River ...
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 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dead River.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dead River, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dead River.
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 Dead River:
- Websites specific to Maine
- Pages specific to Franklin County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Oxford County
- Somerset County
- Coos County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Maine
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Dead River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dead River) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |