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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 Besemer (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 Besemer. 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 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 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.

Besemer is located in Tompkins County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Tompkins County: Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca & Tioga.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Besemer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Besemer.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Roe Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Morris Chapel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morris Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morris Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cooper Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cooper Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cooper Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quick Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quick Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Adams Settlement Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Adams Settlement Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Adams Settlement Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dutch Reformed Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dutch Reformed Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dutch Reformed Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mulks Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mulks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mulks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ellis Hollow Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ellis Hollow Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ellis Hollow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Danby Presbyterian Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Danby Presbyterian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Danby Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Danby Rural Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Danby Rural Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Danby Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Central Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Central Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Central Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (452 more) ...
    • East Lawn Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Lawn Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lane Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lane Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Besemer had a population of 32 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Caroline Depot
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caroline Depot have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroline Depot
    • Caroline Depot is located in Tompkins County
  • Ellis
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
    • Ellis is located in Tompkins County
  • White Church
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Slaterville Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Danby
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Danby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danby
    • Danby is located in Tompkins County
  • Varna
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Forest Home
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Caroline Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caroline Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroline Center
    • Caroline Center is located in Tompkins County
  • Caroline
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caroline have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroline
    • Caroline is located in Tompkins County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Caroline <1>
  • Ithaca
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Etna
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Etna have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
    • Etna is located in Tompkins County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Etna <1>
  • Stratton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stratton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratton
    • Stratton is located in Tompkins County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • West Danby
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Danby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Danby
      • West Danby is located in Tompkins County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to West Danby
      • From Besemer to West Danby
    • Willseyville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willseyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willseyville
      • Willseyville is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willseyville <1>
    • McKinneys
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McKinneys have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinneys
      • McKinneys is located in Tompkins County

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

Newspapers Published in Besemer ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Besemer.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Besemer, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Besemer.

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 helpful 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 Besemer:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Besemer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Tompkins County: www.co.tompkins.ny.us/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<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 Besemer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Besemer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Besemer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3963, Longitude: -76.4101    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025