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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 Balltown (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 Balltown. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Balltown is located in Chautauqua 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 Chautauqua County: Cattaraugus, Erie, Erie (PA) & Warren (PA).

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

  • Chautauqua County     (The home county of Balltown)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balltown, with the one closest to Balltown listed first.
    • Parcells Corners
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Parcells Corners is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parcells Corners
    • Irving
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Silver Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Wango
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Wango is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wango
    • Forestville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Sheridan
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Cherry Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Dunkirk
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • 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
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Cassadaga
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Moons
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Moons is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moons
    • Sinclairville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Cattaraugus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balltown, with the one closest to Balltown listed first.
    • Cottage
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Cottage is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage
    • Perrysburg
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gowanda
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • South Dayton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Persia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Persia is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
    • Leon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Cattaraugus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Otto
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Brooklyn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Brooklyn is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Axeville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Axeville is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axeville
    • Conewango
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Conewango is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conewango
    • Eddyville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Eddyville is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddyville
  • Erie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balltown, with the one closest to Balltown listed first.
    • Farnham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Brant
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Erie Beach
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Lake Erie Beach is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Erie Beach
    • Angola
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • North Collins
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pontiac
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Pontiac is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontiac
    • Shirley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Shirley is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • Angola-on-the-Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Angola-on-the-Lake is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angola-on-the-Lake
    • Derby
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Eden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Morton Corners
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Morton Corners is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morton Corners
    • Wyandale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Wyandale is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandale

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

Cemeteries Near Balltown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Balltown.

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 Balltown - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Balltown Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Rugg-Town / West Perrysburg Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Perrysburg Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Rathburn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Smith Mills Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Evergreen Lawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Versailles Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Prospect Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ball Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cottage Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (203 more) ...
    • Glenwood Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pope Hill Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jolls Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)

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>

While we didn't find Balltown in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Balltown.

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

  • Nashville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Nashville is located in Chautauqua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
  • Cottage
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Cottage is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage
  • Perrysburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Versailles
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Forestville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Wango
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Wango is located in Chautauqua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wango
  • Irving
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Silver Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Farnham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Markhams
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Markhams is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markhams
  • Dayton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Gowanda
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • 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>
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Collins
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Brant
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hamlet
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Hamlet is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet

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

Newspapers Published in Balltown ...

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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Balltown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Balltown, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Balltown.

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 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 Balltown:

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 Balltown, 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- Balltown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.