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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 Bear Creek (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 Bear Creek. 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 Bear Creek ...

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 Bear Creek: Bear Crk. (or less commonly used: Bear Ck. or Bear Cr.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bear Creek. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bear Creek.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Bear Creek is located in Wayne 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 Wayne County: Cayuga, Monroe, Ontario & Seneca.

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

  • Wayne County     (The home county of Bear Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Ontario
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Orchard Grove Village Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lakeside
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lakeside is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
    • Pultneyville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Fruitland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Fruitland is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
    • Williamson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lincoln is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Walworth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Huddle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Huddle is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huddle
    • Marion
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sodus
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Macedon Center
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Macedon Center is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedon Center
  • Cayuga County
    • Fair Haven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Livingston County
    • Lima
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lima is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,008 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lima <1>
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Webster
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • German Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • German Village is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Village
    • Fairport
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Haven
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Glen Haven is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
    • Penfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • East Rochester
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • East Rochester is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rochester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,458 people
    • Irondequoit
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • White City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • White City is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Ontario Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Ontario Beach is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontario Beach
    • Windsor Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Windsor Beach is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Beach
    • Brighton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Brighton is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
    • Charlotte
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Charlotte is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlotte
  • Ontario County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Port Gibson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Manchester
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Victor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Clifton Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Shortsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Phelps
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Thompson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Thompson is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
    • Canandaigua
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Canandaigua is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canandaigua
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,152 people
      • Canandaigua has also been known as:
      • Canadaigua
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canandaigua <1>
    • Holcomb
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Hopewell Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Hopewell Center is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Center
    • Village of Bloomfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Centerfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Centerfield is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerfield

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

Cemeteries Near Bear Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bear Creek.

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 Bear Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Furnaceville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Dixon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ontario Town Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Ontario Center Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Ridge Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Lake View Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Webster Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Walworth Center Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (271 more) ...
    • Finley Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Hall Center Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Sherman Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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 Bear Creek in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bear Creek.

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

  • Furnaceville
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Furnaceville is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnaceville
  • Lakeside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeside is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
  • Ontario Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Ontario
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Fruitland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Fruitland is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
  • Pultneyville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Williamson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Union Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lincoln
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lincoln is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
  • East Williamson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • East Williamson is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Williamson
  • Webster
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • West Walworth
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • West Walworth is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Walworth
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Walworth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Marion
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Joy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Joy is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy

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

Newspapers Published in Bear Creek ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bear Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bear Creek, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bear Creek.

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 Bear Creek:

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 Bear Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bear Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.