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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 Bellwood (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 Bellwood. 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 hospitals and 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.

Bellwood is located in Lewis 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 Lewis County: Herkimer, Jefferson, Oneida, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Lewis County     (The home county of Bellwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellwood, with the one closest to Bellwood listed first.
    • Rector
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Rector is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rector
    • New Boston
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • New Boston is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Boston
    • Harrisburg
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Harrisburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
    • Parkers
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Parkers is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkers
    • Copenhagen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Barnes Corners
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Barnes Corners is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes Corners
    • West Martinsburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • West Martinsburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Martinsburg
    • Briggs Corner
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Briggs Corner is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs Corner
    • Denmark
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Denmark is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
    • Lowville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Castorland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Martinsburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellwood, with the one closest to Bellwood listed first.
    • East Rodman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
    • Worth Center
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Worth Center is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth Center
    • Worth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Worth is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth
    • West Carthage
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • West Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Carthage
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
    • Carthage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Lorraine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Black River
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Deferiet
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Herrings
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Herrings is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrings
      • Estimated population in 2017: 90 people
    • Great Bend
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Watertown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Adams Center
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Oneida County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellwood, with the one closest to Bellwood listed first.
    • Boonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Redmond Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Redmond Corner is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redmond Corner
    • Ava
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Point Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Point Rock is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Rock
  • Oswego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellwood, with the one closest to Bellwood listed first.
    • Smartville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Smartville is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smartville
    • Redfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Chateaugay
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Chateaugay is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chateaugay
    • Lacona
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Orwell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandy Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Richland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Altmar
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Kasoag
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Kasoag is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kasoag
    • Pulaski
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Albion Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Albion Center is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion Center
    • Dugway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Dugway is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugway

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

Cemeteries Near Bellwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bellwood.

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

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

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

  • Liberty Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Battle Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Newton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Gallup Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Rural Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Ashback Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bent Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Plank Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (161 more) ...
    • South Champion Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Ebblie Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)

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 Bellwood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bellwood.

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

  • Rector
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rector is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rector
  • Windecker
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Windecker is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windecker
  • New Boston
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • New Boston is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Boston
  • Parkers
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Parkers is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkers
  • Harrisburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrisburg is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Copenhagen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Barnes Corners
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Barnes Corners is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes Corners
  • Hooker
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Hooker is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
  • West Martinsburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • West Martinsburg is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Martinsburg
  • Denmark
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Denmark is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
  • Worth Center
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Worth Center is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth Center
  • Lowville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Deer River
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • East Rodman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
    • Castorland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Bellwood ...

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 108 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bellwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bellwood, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bellwood.

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 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 Bellwood:

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bellwood) 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 Bellwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.