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 Cowles Settlement (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 Cowles Settlement. 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 Cowles Settlement ...
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.
While the name of this community is Cowles Settlement, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Cowles Settlement may originally have been Cowle's Settlement.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Cowles Settlement might be written as Cowle Settlement.
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Cowles Settlement is located in Cortland 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 Cortland County: Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Madison, Onondaga, Tioga & Tompkins.
Below are the counties that are near Cowles Settlement. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Cowles Settlement:
- Cortland County (The home county of Cowles Settlement)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Crains Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Crains Mills is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crains Mills
- Truxton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cummings Crossing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Cummings Crossing is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings Crossing
- Slab City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Slab City is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
- Preble
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- East Homer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- East Homer is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Homer
- Solon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Solon is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solon
- East River
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- East River is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River
- Little York
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Little York is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little York
- Pratt Corners
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pratt Corners is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Corners
- East Scott
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- East Scott is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Scott
- Homer
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Broome County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Killawog
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Upper Lisle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Upper Lisle is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Lisle
- Lisle
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Manningville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Manningville is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manningville
- Cayuga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Sempronius
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Sempronius is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sempronius
- Dresserville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Dresserville is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresserville
- New Hope
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- New Hope is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
- Summer Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Summer Hill is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill
- Summer Hill has also been known as:
- Plato
- Kelloggsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Kelloggsville is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelloggsville
- Montville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Montville is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montville
- Niles
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Niles is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niles
- Moravia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Omro
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Omro is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omro
- Austin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Austin is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
- Cascade
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Cascade is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
- Locke
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Chenango County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Otselic Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Otselic Center is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic Center
- Otselic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Otselic is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic
- South Otselic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pitcher
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Beaver Meadow
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Beaver Meadow is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Meadow
- Smyrna
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Kirk
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Kirk is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirk
- Plymouth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Sherburne
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- North Norwich
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- North Norwich is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Norwich
- Adams Corner
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Adams Corner is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Corner
- Norwich
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Puckerville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Puckerville is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckerville
- DeRuyter
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- DeRuyter is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeRuyter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
- Union
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Union is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- New Woodstock
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- New Woodstock is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Woodstock
- Rippleton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Rippleton is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rippleton
- Cazenovia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Bingley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Bingley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingley
- Chittenango Falls
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Chittenango Falls is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chittenango Falls
- West Eaton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- West Eaton is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Eaton
- Sulphur Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Sulphur Springs is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Sulphur Springs has also been known as:
- Chittenango Springs
- Morrisville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Chittenango
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Oneida County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Augusta
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Augusta is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta
- Oneida Castle
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Oneida Castle is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida Castle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 603 people
- Oriskany Falls
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Sherrill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Sconondoa
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sconondoa is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sconondoa
- Stockwell
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Stockwell is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockwell
- Vernon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Sangerfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Waterville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Jewell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Jewell is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
- Sylvan Beach
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Cagwin Corners
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cagwin Corners is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cagwin Corners
- Onondaga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Fabius
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Delphi Falls
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Apulia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Apulia is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apulia
- Berwyn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Berwyn is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn
- Pompey
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Pompey Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Pompey Center is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pompey Center
- Log City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Log City is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log City
- Tully
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Assembly Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Assembly Park is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assembly Park
- Watervale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Watervale is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watervale
- LaFayette
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- LaFayette is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaFayette
- LaFayette has also been known as:
- LaFayette Square
- Te-Ka-Wis-To-Ta
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for LaFayette <2>
- Cardiff
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cardiff is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Tompkins County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Groton City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Groton City is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton City
- McLean
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Groton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Dryden
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Peruville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Peruville is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peruville
- Freeville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- West Groton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Groton is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Groton
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cowles Settlement, see our County-by-County Page for Cowles Settlement.
Cemeteries Near Cowles Settlement ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cowles Settlement.
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 Cowles Settlement - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Cowles Settlement covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Merchant Smith Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merchant Smith Cemetery
- The Merchant Smith Cemetery has also been known as:
- Merchant Cemetery
- Smith Cemetery
- Lee Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Albro Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Burdick Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Keeney Settlement Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Cuyler Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Stockham Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Beach Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Old Fabius Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cuyler Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Sheds Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (439 more) ...
- New Woodstock Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Union Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Delphi Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
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>
While we didn't find Cowles Settlement in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cowles Settlement.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Cowles Settlement, with the one closest to Cowles Settlement listed first.
- Keeney
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Keeney is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeney
- DeRuyter
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- DeRuyter is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeRuyter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
- Cuyler
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Fabius
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- New Woodstock
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- New Woodstock is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Woodstock
- Crains Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Crains Mills is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crains Mills
- Lincklaen Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lincklaen Center is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincklaen Center
- Apulia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Apulia is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apulia
- Truxton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Apulia Station
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Lincklaen
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Lincklaen is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincklaen
- Mariposa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Mariposa is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariposa
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Pompey
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cheningo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Cheningo is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheningo
- Georgetown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Cowles Settlement. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cowles Settlement.
Newspapers Published in Cowles Settlement ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cowles Settlement.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cowles Settlement, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cowles Settlement.
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 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 Cowles Settlement:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Cortland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Broome County
- Cayuga County
- Chenango County
- Madison County
- Oneida County
- Onondaga County
- Tompkins County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Cowles Settlement, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Cowles Settlement) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |