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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 Bethel (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 Bethel. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Bethel is located in Dutchess 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 Dutchess County: Fairfield (CT), Litchfield (CT), Berkshire (MA), Columbia, Orange, Putnam & Ulster.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Bethel ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bethel.

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 Bethel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Bryan Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bryan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bryan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • The Square Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Square Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Square Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smithfield Burying Grounds
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smithfield Burying Grounds
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smithfield Burying Grounds have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Irondale Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Irondale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Irondale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ancram Union Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancram Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancram Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ancram Old Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancram Old Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancram Old Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stanford Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Milan Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Milan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Milan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Amenia Island Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Amenia Island Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Amenia Island Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Bernard Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (264 more) ...
    • Teats Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Teats Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Teats Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Shookville Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shookville Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shookville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Upton Lake Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Upton Lake Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Upton Lake 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Bethel had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Shekomeko
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shekomeko have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shekomeko
    • Shekomeko is located in Dutchess County
  • Pine Plains
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Stissing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stissing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stissing
    • Stissing is located in Dutchess County
  • Attlebury
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Attlebury have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attlebury
    • Attlebury is located in Dutchess County
  • McIntyre
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McIntyre have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntyre
    • McIntyre is located in Dutchess County
  • Gallatinville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gallatinville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallatinville
    • Gallatinville is located in Columbia County
  • Smithfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Smithfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithfield
    • Smithfield is located in Dutchess County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Smithfield
    • From Bethel to Smithfield
  • Irondale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Irondale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irondale
    • Irondale is located in Dutchess County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Irondale
    • From Bethel to Irondale
  • Silvernails
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Silvernails. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silvernails
    • Silvernails is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Silvernails
    • From Bethel to Silvernails
  • Mount Ross
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mount Ross. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Ross
    • Mount Ross is located in Dutchess County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Mount Ross
    • From Bethel to Mount Ross
  • Lafayetteville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lafayetteville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lafayetteville
    • Lafayetteville is located in Dutchess County
  • Bangall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ancram
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Millerton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Dutchess County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 911 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millerton <1>
    • Mount Riga
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Riga have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Riga
      • Mount Riga is located in Dutchess County

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

Newspapers Published in Bethel ...

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 76 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bethel.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bethel, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bethel.

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 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 Bethel:

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

The official website for Dutchess County: www.dutchessny.gov/

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>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.
<5>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 Bethel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Bethel) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bethel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9546, Longitude: -73.6337       In this case, the coordinates for Bethel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025