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 Wells Mills (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 Wells Mills. 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 Wells Mills ...
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 have occurred.
- A typical abbreviation for Wells Mills: Wells Mls. (or less commonly used: Wells Mlls.)
- While the name of this community is Wells Mills, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wells Mills may originally have been Well's Mills.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wells Mills might be written as Well Mills.
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 northeast 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 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.
Wells Mills is located in Ocean County.
To see how the shape of New Jersey's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Ocean County: Atlantic, Burlington & Monmouth.
Below are the counties that are near Wells Mills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wells Mills:
- Ocean County (The home county of Wells Mills)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Mills, with the one closest to Wells Mills listed first.
- Ocean Acres
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocean Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Acres
- Ocean Acres is located in Ocean County
- Waretown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Forked River
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forked River
- Forked River is located in Ocean County
- Manahawkin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manahawkin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manahawkin
- Manahawkin is located in Ocean County
- Double Trouble ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Trouble
- Double Trouble is located in Ocean County
- Dover Forge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover Forge
- Dover Forge is located in Ocean County
- Beach Haven West
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beach Haven West have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Haven West
- Beach Haven West is located in Ocean County
- Eagleswood Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagleswood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleswood Village
- Eagleswood Village is located in Ocean County
- Mayetta
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayetta
- Mayetta is located in Ocean County
- Staffordville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staffordville
- Staffordville is located in Ocean County
- Holiday Heights
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Heights
- Holiday Heights is located in Ocean County
- Wheatland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - North Beach
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Beach
- North Beach is located in Ocean County
- Atlantic County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Mills, with the one closest to Wells Mills listed first.
- Port Republic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Republic
- Port Republic is located in Atlantic County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,051 people
- Sweetwater
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Sweetwater is located in Atlantic County
- Egg Harbor City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Harbor City
- Egg Harbor City is located in Atlantic County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,057 people
- Brigantine
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brigantine
- Brigantine is located in Atlantic County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,577 people
- Pomona
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomona
- Pomona is located in Atlantic County
- Absecon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Absecon
- Absecon is located in Atlantic County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,789 people
- Hammonton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammonton
- Hammonton is located in Atlantic County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,902 people
- Atlantic City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic City
- Atlantic City is located in Atlantic County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 37,569 people
- West Atlantic City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Atlantic City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Atlantic City
- West Atlantic City is located in Atlantic County
- McKee City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McKee City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKee City
- McKee City is located in Atlantic County
- Pleasantville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Pleasantville is located in Atlantic County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,060 people
- Burlington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Mills, with the one closest to Wells Mills listed first.
- Chatsworth
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatsworth
- Chatsworth is located in Burlington County
- Speedwell
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedwell
- Speedwell is located in Burlington County
- New Gretna
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Gretna
- New Gretna is located in Burlington County
- Wading River
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wading River
- Wading River is located in Burlington County
- Country Lake Estates
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Country Lake Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Lake Estates
- Country Lake Estates is located in Burlington County
- Presidential Lakes Estates
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Presidential Lakes Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Presidential Lakes Estates
- Presidential Lakes Estates is located in Burlington County
- Washington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Washington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington
- Washington is located in Burlington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,459 people
- Browns Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Mills
- Browns Mills is located in Burlington County
- Sooy Place
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sooy Place
- Sooy Place is located in Burlington County
- Batsto Village ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batsto Village
- Batsto Village is located in Burlington County
- Batsto Village has also been known as:
- Batsto
- Fort Dix
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Dix
- Fort Dix is located in Burlington County
- Atsion
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atsion
- Atsion is located in Burlington County
- Fox Chase
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Chase
- Fox Chase is located in Burlington County
- Camden County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Mills, with the one closest to Wells Mills listed first.
- Ancora
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancora
- Ancora is located in Camden County
- Waterford Works
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford Works
- Waterford Works is located in Camden County
- Waterford Works has also been known as:
- Waterford
- Monmouth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Mills, with the one closest to Wells Mills listed first.
- Ramtown
(23 miles [37 km] to the north) - Allenwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north) - Maxim
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxim
- Maxim is located in Monmouth County
- Prospertown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospertown
- Prospertown is located in Monmouth County
- Allaire Village ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allaire Village
- Allaire Village is located in Monmouth County
- Allaire Village has also been known as:
- Allaire
- Squankum
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squankum
- Squankum is located in Monmouth County
- Cream Ridge
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cream Ridge
- Cream Ridge is located in Monmouth County
- Walnford ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnford
- Walnford is located in Monmouth County
- West Belmar
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Belmar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Belmar
- West Belmar is located in Monmouth County
- Imlaystown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imlaystown
- Imlaystown is located in Monmouth County
- Polhemustown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polhemustown
- Polhemustown is located in Monmouth County
- Belmar
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmar
- Belmar is located in Monmouth County
- Neptune City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neptune City
- Neptune City is located in Monmouth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,594 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wells Mills, see our County-by-County Page for Wells Mills.
Newspapers Published in Wells Mills ...
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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wells Mills.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wells Mills, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wells Mills.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Wells Mills:
- Websites specific to New Jersey
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the New Jersey State Archives
- Pages specific to Ocean County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Atlantic County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Burlington County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Camden County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Monmouth County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Atlantic County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New Jersey
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of New Jersey
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of New Jersey
- Cemeteries of Ocean County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of New Jersey
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of New Jersey
- Cemeteries of Ocean County
Cemeteries Near Wells Mills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wells Mills.
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.
If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wells Mills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wells Mills, with the one closest to Wells Mills listed first.
- Ocean Community Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ocean Community Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ocean Community Cemetery
- St. Marys Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
- Masonic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Masonic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Masonic Cemetery
- Reevestown Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reevestown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reevestown Cemetery
- Friends Meeting Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friends Meeting Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friends Meeting Cemetery
- Old Waretown Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Waretown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Waretown Cemetery
- Manahawkin Baptist Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Manahawkin Baptist Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Manahawkin Baptist Church Cemetery
- Good Luck Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Good Luck Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Good Luck Cemetery
- Greenwood Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
- Staffordville Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Staffordville Cemetery
- West Creek Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Creek Cemetery
- St. Maximillian Kolbe Roman Catholic Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Maximillian Kolbe Roman Catholic Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Toms River.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Maximillian Kolbe Roman Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2495814 <4>
- Continue List (61 more) ...
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
- Riverside Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
- Greenwood Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
- St. Joseph Cemetery
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 Wells Mills in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wells Mills.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wells Mills, with the one closest to Wells Mills listed first.
- Waretown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Beach View
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beach View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach View
- Beach View is located in Ocean County
- Forked River
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forked River
- Forked River is located in Ocean County
- Manahawkin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manahawkin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manahawkin
- Manahawkin is located in Ocean County
- Cedar Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Staffordville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staffordville
- Staffordville is located in Ocean County
- Mayetta
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayetta
- Mayetta is located in Ocean County
- Davenport ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Long Beach
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Beach
- Long Beach is located in Ocean County
- Bayville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Wheatland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - West Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Creek
- West Creek is located in Ocean County
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Toms River
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toms River
- Toms River is located in Ocean County
- Woodmansie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodmansie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodmansie
- Woodmansie is located in Burlington County
- Whiting
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiting
- Whiting is located in Ocean County
- Toms River
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wells Mills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wells Mills.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Wells Mills. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Ocean County: www.oceancountygov.com/
The official website for State of New Jersey: https://www.state.nj.us/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wells Mills) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wells Mills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7943, Longitude: -74.2757 In this case, the coordinates for Wells Mills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Wells Mills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |