RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Erie County >> Angola-on-the-Lake >> 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 Angola-on-the-Lake (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 Angola-on-the-Lake. 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 northwest 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 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.

Angola-on-the-Lake is located in Erie County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Erie County: Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Niagara & Wyoming.

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

  • Erie County     (The home county of Angola-on-the-Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Angola-on-the-Lake, with the one closest to Angola-on-the-Lake listed first.
    • Angola
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Lake Erie Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Lake Erie Beach is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Erie Beach
    • Derby
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Brant
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Farnham
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Pontiac
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Pontiac is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontiac
    • Eden
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • North Collins
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Shirley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Shirley is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • Wanakah
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Wanakah is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanakah
    • Water Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Water Valley is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
    • Hamburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Cattaraugus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Angola-on-the-Lake, with the one closest to Angola-on-the-Lake listed first.
    • Perrysburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Gowanda
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Gowanda is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gowanda
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,524 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gowanda <1>
    • Cottage
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Cottage is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage
    • Persia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Persia is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
    • South Dayton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Brooklyn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Brooklyn is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Otto
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Cattaraugus
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Leon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Eddyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Eddyville is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddyville
    • Axeville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Axeville is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axeville
    • Conewango
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Conewango is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conewango
  • Chautauqua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Angola-on-the-Lake, with the one closest to Angola-on-the-Lake listed first.
    • Irving
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Silver Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Parcells Corners
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Parcells Corners is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parcells Corners
    • Forestville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sheridan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Wango
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Wango is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wango
    • Dunkirk
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Dunkirk is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunkirk
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,701 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunkirk <1>
    • Fredonia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cherry Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Cassadaga
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Brocton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Moons
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Moons is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moons
  • Genesee County
    • Amherst
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Amherst is located in Genesee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst
  • Niagara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Angola-on-the-Lake, with the one closest to Angola-on-the-Lake listed first.
    • Park Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Park Village is located in Niagara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Village
    • North Tonawanda
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • North Tonawanda is located in Niagara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Tonawanda
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,050 people
    • Martinsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Martinsville is located in Niagara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
    • Wurlitzer Park Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Black Creek Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Black Creek Village is located in Niagara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek Village
    • Hoffman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Hoffman is located in Niagara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoffman
    • Niagara Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Saint Johnsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Saint Johnsburg is located in Niagara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johnsburg

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

Cemeteries Near Angola-on-the-Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Angola-on-the-Lake.

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 Angola-on-the-Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Angola-on-the-Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Jerusalem Corners Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Holy Cross Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Brant Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Huson Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • North Evans Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Friends Meetinghouse Burial Grounds
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Holy Spirit Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Rathburn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Versailles Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • St. Paul's Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Glenwood Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (237 more) ...
    • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Evergreen Lawn Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Smith Mills Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)

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 Angola-on-the-Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Angola-on-the-Lake.

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

  • Angola
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Farnham
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Brant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Pontiac
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pontiac is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontiac
  • Derby
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Irving
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • North Evans
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lake View
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • North Collins
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Eden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Shirley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Shirley is located in Erie County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
  • Silver Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Versailles
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Eden Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Eden Valley is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Valley
    • Lawtons
      (10 miles [16.1 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 Angola-on-the-Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Angola-on-the-Lake.

Newspapers Published in Angola-on-the-Lake ...

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 68 newspapers that have been published in the area around Angola-on-the-Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Angola-on-the-Lake, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Angola-on-the-Lake.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Angola-on-the-Lake:

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>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- Angola-on-the-Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Angola-on-the-Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.