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 West Swanzey (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 West Swanzey. 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 West Swanzey ...
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 West Swanzey: W. Swanzey
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 and doctors 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.
West Swanzey is located in Cheshire County.
To see how the shape of New Hampshire's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cheshire County: Franklin (MA), Worcester (MA), Hillsborough, Sullivan & Windham (VT).
Below are the counties that are near West Swanzey. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Swanzey:
- Cheshire County (The home county of West Swanzey)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- Swanzey
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- East Swanzey
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- East Swanzey is located in Cheshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Swanzey
- Keene
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Spofford
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Marlborough
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Troy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Winchester
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Chesterfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Roxbury
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Roxbury is located in Cheshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
- Westmoreland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Richmond
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Ashuelot
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Hillsborough County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- West Peterborough
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- West Peterborough is located in Hillsborough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Peterborough
- Peterborough
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Hancock
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Elmwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Elmwood is located in Hillsborough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood
- North Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- North Village is located in Hillsborough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
- Sharon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Sharon is located in Hillsborough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
- Antrim Center
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Antrim Center is located in Hillsborough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antrim Center
- Clinton Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Clinton Village is located in Hillsborough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton Village
- Antrim
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bennington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- North Branch
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- North Branch is located in Hillsborough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Branch
- Windsor
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Windsor is located in Hillsborough County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 232 people
- Sullivan County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- Langdon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Langdon is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 688 people
- South Acworth
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- South Acworth is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Acworth
- Acworth
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Acworth is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people
- Washington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Charlestown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Lempster
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Lempster is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lempster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,177 people
- Quaker City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Quaker City is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker City
- Unity
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Unity is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,616 people
- Franklin County (MA)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- Mayo Corners
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Mayo Corners is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo Corners
- West Northfield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- West Northfield is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Northfield
- Warwick
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Warwick is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warwick
- Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
- Northfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Northfield is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,958 people
- North Orange
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- North Orange is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Orange
- Tully
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Tully is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tully
- Mount Hermon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Hermon is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hermon
- Bernardston
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bernardston is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernardston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,089 people
- Gill
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Gill is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,473 people
- Erving
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Erving is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erving
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,749 people
- Orange
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Orange is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,581 people
- Leyden
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Leyden is located in Franklin County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leyden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 719 people
- Middlesex County (MA)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- Ashby
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ashby is located in Middlesex County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
- South Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- South Village is located in Middlesex County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Village
- Worcester County (MA)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- Royalston
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Royalston is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royalston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,278 people
- Waterville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Waterville is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterville
- Winchendon
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Winchendon is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchendon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,835 people
- Athol
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Athol is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athol
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,698 people
- Winchendon Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Winchendon Springs is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchendon Springs
- Pequoig
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Pequoig is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequoig
- Baldwinville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Baldwinville is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwinville
- Brooks Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Brooks Village is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks Village
- Lane Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Lane Village is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane Village
- Phillipston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Phillipston is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,739 people
- East Templeton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- East Templeton is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Templeton
- Goulding Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Goulding Village is located in Worcester County (MA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding Village
- Windham County (VT)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- South Vernon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- South Vernon is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Vernon
- Vernon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Vernon is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,190 people
- Brattleboro
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- East Dummerston
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- East Dummerston is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dummerston
- Fairview Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Fairview Village is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Village
- Putney
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Putney is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putney
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,438 people
- Guilford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Dummerston
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Dummerston is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dummerston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,739 people
- West Brattleboro
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Westminster
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Brattleboro
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Brattleboro is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brattleboro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,257 people
- West Dummerston
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Windsor County (VT)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- Springfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Springfield is located in Windsor County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,875 people
- Springfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Chester Depot
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Chester Depot is located in Windsor County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Depot
- Chester
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Swanzey, see our County-by-County Page for West Swanzey.
Cemeteries Near West Swanzey ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Swanzey.
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 West Swanzey - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Swanzey covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- Westport Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Mt. Caesar Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Caesar Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Caesar Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Swanzey.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1446660 <2>
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- St. Bernard's Catholic Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ash Swamp Burial Ground
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- West Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Rhodes Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Woodland Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodland Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Keene.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #796341 <2>
- Greenlawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Greenlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Keene.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #251415 <2>
- Washington Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Monadnock View Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (413 more) ...
- Spofford Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spofford Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Spofford Cemetery is located in Spofford.
- The Spofford Cemetery has also been known as:
- Spofford Village Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2402942 <2>
- Meetinghouse Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that West Swanzey had a population of 650 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Swanzey, with the one closest to West Swanzey listed first.
- Westport
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Westport is located in Cheshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
- Swanzey
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Swanzey Station
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Swanzey Station is located in Cheshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swanzey Station
- East Swanzey
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- East Swanzey is located in Cheshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Swanzey
- Keene
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- North Richmond
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- North Richmond is located in Cheshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Richmond
- South Keene
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- South Keene is located in Cheshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Keene
- Marlborough
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Winchester
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Troy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Chesterfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Ashuelot
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Richmond
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Westmoreland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- East Westmoreland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- East Westmoreland is located in Cheshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Westmoreland
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Swanzey. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Swanzey.
Newspapers Published in West Swanzey ...
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 97 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Swanzey.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Swanzey, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Swanzey.
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 helpful 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 West Swanzey:
- Websites specific to New Hampshire
- Pages specific to Cheshire County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hillsborough County
- Sullivan County
- Franklin County
- Middlesex County
- Worcester County
- Windham County
- Windsor County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New Hampshire
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> | 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 West Swanzey, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- West Swanzey) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |