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 Benton (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 Benton. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Benton is located in Yates 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 Yates County: Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca & Steuben.
Below are the counties that are near Benton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Benton:
- Yates County (The home county of Benton)
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Benton Center
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Benton Center is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Center
- Angus
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Angus is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
- Bellona
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Penn Yan
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Seneca Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Seneca Mills is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca Mills
- Dresden
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Yatesville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Yatesville is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
- Keuka Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Potter
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Potter is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter
- Himrod
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Rushville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Barrington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Barrington is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington
- Cayuga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Aurora
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Willets
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Willets is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willets
- Black Rock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Black Rock is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Rock
- Union Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Atwaters
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Atwaters is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwaters
- Ledyard
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Ledyard is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledyard
- Poplar Ridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Scipioville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Scipioville is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scipioville
- Sherwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Sherwood is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
- Cayuga
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cross Roads
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cross Roads is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
- Oakwood
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Oakwood is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
- Livingston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Springwater
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Websters Crossing
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Ford Corner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ford Corner is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford Corner
- Mendon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ontario County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Hall
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Billsboro
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Billsboro is located in Ontario County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billsboro
- Gorham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Flint
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Flint is located in Ontario County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
- Geneva
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Seneca Castle
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Cottage City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cottage City is located in Ontario County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage City
- Dobbins Corner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Dobbins Corner is located in Ontario County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dobbins Corner
- Melvin Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Melvin Hill is located in Ontario County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin Hill
- Hopewell Center
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Hopewell Center is located in Ontario County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Center
- Phelps
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Canandaigua
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- 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>
- Schuyler County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Wayne
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Hector
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- North Reading
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- North Reading is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Reading
- Logan
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Logan is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan
- Reading Center
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Searsburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Searsburg is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searsburg
- Bennettsburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Bennettsburg is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennettsburg
- Burdett
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Perry City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Watkins Glen
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Watkins Glen is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watkins Glen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,851 people
- Former names for Watkins Glen:
- Jefferson
- Salubria
- Watkins
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watkins Glen <1>
- Mecklenburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Townsend
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Townsend is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsend
- Seneca County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Willard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Romulus
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Ovid
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Border City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Border City is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border City
- Lodi
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- East Varick
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- East Varick is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Varick
- Kuneytown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kuneytown is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kuneytown
- Waterloo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Interlaken
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Interlaken is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
- Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
- Former names for Interlaken:
- Farmer Village
- Farmer
- Farmerville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Interlaken <1>
- Canoga
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Canoga is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canoga
- Kidders
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Kidders is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kidders
- Seneca Falls
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Steuben County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Catawba
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Catawba is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catawba
- Keuka
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Keuka is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keuka
- South Pulteney
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- South Pulteney is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pulteney
- Prattsburgh
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Prattsburgh is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattsburgh
- Urbana
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Urbana is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbana
- Hammondsport
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Bradford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Atlanta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Mitchellsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Mitchellsville is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchellsville
- Pleasant Valley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Valley is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
- Cold Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cold Springs is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
- Hermitage
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hermitage is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
- Tompkins County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Trumansburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Ridge
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Lake Ridge is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ridge
- Taughannock Falls
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Taughannock Falls is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taughannock Falls
- Jacksonville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jacksonville is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Willow Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Willow Creek is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
- North Lansing
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- North Lansing is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lansing
- Myers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Myers is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myers
- East Lansing
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- East Lansing is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lansing
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Newark
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Lyons
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Mud Mills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Mud Mills is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Mills
- Palmyra
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Clyde
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- East Palmyra
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- East Palmyra is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Palmyra
- Yellow Mills
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Yellow Mills is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Mills
- Fairville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Fairville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairville
- Marquart Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Marquart Village is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marquart Village
- Macedon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Macedon Center
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Macedon Center is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedon Center
- Huddle
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Huddle is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huddle
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Benton, see our County-by-County Page for Benton.
Cemeteries Near Benton ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Benton.
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 Benton - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Benton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Benton Rural Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Benton Mennonite Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Baldwin Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Merrifield Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Cole Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Barden / Page Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Alcott Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bellona Cemetery (Old)
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bellona Cemetery (New)
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Briggs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs Cemetery
- The Briggs Cemetery has also been known as:
- Southwest Benton Rural Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #64028 <2>
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Continue List (461 more) ...
- St. Michael's RC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lake View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Hopeton Corners Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Benton had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Benton, with the one closest to Benton listed first.
- Benton Center
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Benton Center is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Center
- Penn Yan
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Angus
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Angus is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
- Bellona
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Milo Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Milo Mills is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo Mills
- Seneca Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Seneca Mills is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca Mills
- Mays Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mays Mills is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mays Mills
- Voak
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Voak is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voak
- Hall
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Dresden
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Billsboro
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Billsboro is located in Ontario County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billsboro
- Bluff Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Second Milo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Second Milo is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Second Milo
- Stanley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Gorham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Benton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Benton.
Newspapers Published in Benton ...
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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Benton.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Benton, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Benton.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Benton:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Yates County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cayuga County
- Livingston County
- Monroe County
- Ontario County
- Schuyler County
- Seneca County
- Steuben County
- Tompkins County
- Wayne County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
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 Benton, 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- Benton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |