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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 Brandon Center (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 Brandon Center. 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 Brandon Center ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Brandon Center: Brandon Ctr. (or less commonly used: Brandon Cen., Brandon Cent. or Brandon Cntr.)

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

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 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.

Brandon Center is located in Franklin 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 Franklin County: Clinton, Essex, Hamilton & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Franklin County     (The home county of Brandon Center)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon Center, with the one closest to Brandon Center listed first.
    • Skerry
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Skerry is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skerry
    • Bangor
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • West Bangor
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • West Bangor is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bangor
    • East Dickinson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • East Dickinson is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dickinson
    • Brushton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Whippleville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Malone
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Moira
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Alburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Alburg is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alburg
    • Saint Regis Falls
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Westville Center
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Westville Center is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville Center
    • Constable
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bombay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon Center, with the one closest to Brandon Center listed first.
    • Harrigan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Harrigan is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrigan
    • Standish
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Standish is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
    • Lyon Mountain
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Ellenburg Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Churubusco
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Clayburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Clayburg is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayburg
  • Essex County
  • Saint Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brandon Center, with the one closest to Brandon Center listed first.
    • Nicholville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hopkinton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Hopkinton is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkinton
    • Brasher Iron Works
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Brasher Iron Works is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brasher Iron Works
    • Brasher Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Helena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Winthrop
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Rooseveltown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Parishville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Brookdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Brookdale is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookdale
    • Sandfordville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Sandfordville is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandfordville
    • West Stockholm
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Massena
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Massena is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Massena <1>
    • Massena Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Massena Springs is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massena Springs

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

Cemeteries Near Brandon Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brandon Center.

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 Brandon Center - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Brandon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Sand Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Develin Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Bangor Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • North Bangor Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • St. Augustine Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • East Dickinson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Southworth Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Mary's Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Mary's Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Brushton.
    • The St. Mary's Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old St. Mary's Cemetery
    • St. Mary's RC Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2546143 <2>
  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (132 more) ...
    • Ives Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Kimpton Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Webster Street Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Skerry
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Skerry is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skerry
  • West Bangor
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • West Bangor is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bangor
  • Bangor
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • North Bangor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • East Dickinson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • East Dickinson is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dickinson
  • Brushton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Dickinson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Dickinson is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickinson
  • Dickinson Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Whippleville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Malone
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Moira
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Alburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Alburg is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alburg
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Saint Regis Falls
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Santa Clara
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Santa Clara is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Clara
    • Chasm Falls
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Chasm Falls is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chasm Falls

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

Newspapers Published in Brandon Center ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brandon Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brandon Center, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brandon Center.

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 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 Brandon Center:

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 Brandon Center, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brandon Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.