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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 Ancram (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 Ancram. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Ancram is located in Columbia County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Columbia County: Litchfield (CT), Berkshire (MA), Albany, Dutchess, Greene, Rensselaer & Ulster.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Ancram ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ancram.

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 Ancram covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ancram, with the one closest to Ancram listed first.

  • Ancram Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancram Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancram Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ancram Old Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancram Old Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancram Old Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Copake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Copake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Copake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Copake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Copake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Copake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old St. Bridget's Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. Bridget's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. Bridget's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Teats Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Teats Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Teats Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bryan Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bryan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bryan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Niver Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Niver Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Niver Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elizaville Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Shookville Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shookville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shookville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (268 more) ...
    • Irondale Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Irondale Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Irondale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Williams Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williams Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hillsdale Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillsdale Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillsdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Ancram had a population of 287 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Gallatinville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gallatinville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallatinville
    • Gallatinville is located in Columbia County
  • Silvernails
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Silvernails. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silvernails
    • Silvernails is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Silvernails
    • From Ancram to Silvernails
  • Suydam ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Suydam. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suydam
    • Suydam is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Suydam
    • From Ancram to Suydam
  • Pine Plains
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • West Copake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Copake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Copake
    • West Copake is located in Columbia County
  • Jackson Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mount Ross
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mount Ross. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Ross
    • Mount Ross is located in Dutchess County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Mount Ross
    • From Ancram to Mount Ross
  • Boston Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boston Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston Corner
    • Boston Corner is located in Columbia County
  • Weed Mines
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Weed Mines. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weed Mines
    • Weed Mines is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Weed Mines
    • From Ancram to Weed Mines
  • Copake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copake
    • Copake is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Copake <2>
  • Bethel
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bethel. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Bethel is located in Dutchess County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bethel
    • From Ancram to Bethel
  • Taghkanic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • West Taghkanic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Riga
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Riga have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Riga
      • Mount Riga is located in Dutchess County
    • Snyderville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snyderville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snyderville
      • Snyderville is located in Columbia County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ancram ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ancram.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ancram. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ancram and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ancram.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6> of Ancram.

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 Ancram:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ancram. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Columbia County: www.columbiacountyny.com/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Ancram, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Ancram) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ancram. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0505, Longitude: -73.6362    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025