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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 Brooklyn (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 Brooklyn. 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 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.

Brooklyn is located in Cattaraugus 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 Cattaraugus County: Allegany, Chautauqua, Erie, Wyoming, McKean (PA) & Warren (PA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Brooklyn ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brooklyn.

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

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

  • Brooklyn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brooklyn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brooklyn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tefft Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Franktown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Franktown Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Franktown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Otto Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Otto Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Otto Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ashford Hollow Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Weber Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • North Otto Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Otto Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Otto Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Schwartz Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Knight Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Knight Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Knight Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maplewood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maplewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maplewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mortons Corners Rural Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Barber Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barber Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barber Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (241 more) ...
    • Lutheran Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lutheran Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Otto Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Otto Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Otto Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Maples Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maples Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maples 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.<6>

While we didn't find Brooklyn in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brooklyn.

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

  • East Otto
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Otto have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Otto
    • East Otto is located in Cattaraugus County
  • Morton Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Otto
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Riceville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riceville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceville
    • Riceville is located in Cattaraugus County
  • Springville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
    • Springville is located in Erie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,273 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Springville <1>
  • Concord
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Collins Center
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collins Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins Center
    • Collins Center is located in Erie County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collins Center <1>
  • Eddyville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eddyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddyville
    • Eddyville is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Eddyville
    • From Brooklyn to Eddyville
  • West Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Valley
    • West Valley is located in Cattaraugus County
  • Marshfield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshfield
    • Marshfield is located in Erie County
  • Wyandale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Cattaraugus
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cattaraugus have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cattaraugus
    • Cattaraugus is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cattaraugus <1>
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • East Concord
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Concord have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Concord
      • East Concord is located in Erie County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Concord <1>
    • Collins
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collins have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
      • Collins is located in Erie County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collins <1>
    • Gowanda
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Brooklyn ...

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 136 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brooklyn.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brooklyn, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brooklyn.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Brooklyn:

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

The official website for Cattaraugus County: www.co.cattaraugus.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>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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brooklyn) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Brooklyn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4354, Longitude: -78.7497    
<6>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 Brooklyn, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025