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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 Defreestville (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 Defreestville. 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 southwest 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 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.

Defreestville is located in Rensselaer 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 Rensselaer County: Berkshire (MA), Albany, Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Washington & Bennington (VT).

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

  • Rensselaer County     (The home county of Defreestville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Defreestville, with the one closest to Defreestville listed first.
    • Couse
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Rensselaer
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rensselaer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rensselaer
      • Rensselaer is located in Rensselaer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,142 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rensselaer <2>
    • Albia
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Wyantskill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyantskill came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyantskill
      • Wyantskill is located in Rensselaer County
    • Wynantskill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wynantskill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynantskill
      • Wynantskill is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wynantskill <2>
    • Hampton Manor
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hampton Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton Manor
      • Hampton Manor is located in Rensselaer County
    • West Sand Lake
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Sand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sand Lake
      • West Sand Lake is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Sand Lake <2>
    • Troy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • East Greenbush
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Greenbush have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenbush
      • East Greenbush is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Greenbush <2>
    • Best
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Luther
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Sliters
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sliters. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sliters
      • Sliters is located in Rensselaer County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sliters
      • From Defreestville to Sliters
    • Poestenkill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Albany County
  • Columbia County
  • Greene County
  • Montgomery County
  • Saratoga County
  • Schenectady County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Defreestville, with the one closest to Defreestville listed first.
    • Niskayuna
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Aqueduct
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rotterdam
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rotterdam have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rotterdam
      • Rotterdam is located in Schenectady County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rotterdam <2>
    • Schenectady
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Alplaus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • East Glenville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Scotia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotia
      • Scotia is located in Schenectady County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,618 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scotia <2>
    • Princetown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rynex Corners
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Duane Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duane Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duane Lake
      • Duane Lake is located in Schenectady County
    • Pattersonville - Rotterdam Junction
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Duanesburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duanesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duanesburg
      • Duanesburg is located in Schenectady County
    • Mariaville Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mariaville Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariaville Lake
      • Mariaville Lake is located in Schenectady County
  • Schoharie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Defreestville, with the one closest to Defreestville listed first.
    • Gallupville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Esperance
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esperance have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esperance
      • Esperance is located in Schoharie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Esperance <2>
  • Washington County
  • Berkshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Defreestville, with the one closest to Defreestville listed first.
    • Hancock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hancock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Hancock is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 695 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hancock
      • From Defreestville to Hancock
    • New Ashford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Ashford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Ashford
      • New Ashford is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Shaker Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
      • Shaker Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Lanesborough
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lanesborough have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanesborough
      • Lanesborough is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,925 people
    • Williamstown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
      • Williamstown is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,631 people
    • Richmond
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Stevens Corner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pittsfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Berkshire
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berkshire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkshire
      • Berkshire is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Cheshire
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Farnams
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Farnams. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farnams
      • Farnams is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farnams
      • From Defreestville to Farnams
    • Greylock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greylock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greylock
      • Greylock is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Greylock
      • From Defreestville to Greylock
    • West Stockbridge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Bennington County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Defreestville, with the one closest to Defreestville listed first.
    • Pownal Center
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Pownal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pownal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pownal
      • Pownal is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,386 people
    • Bennington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
      • Bennington is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,897 people
    • Old Bennington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Bennington
      • Old Bennington is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Paper Mill Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paper Mill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village
      • Paper Mill Village is located in Bennington County (VT)
    • Bennington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • North Bennington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Defreestville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Defreestville.

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Defreestville had a population of 98 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Defreestville ...

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 168 newspapers that have been published in the area around Defreestville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Defreestville, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Defreestville.

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 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 Defreestville:

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

The official website for Rensselaer County: www.rensco.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<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 Defreestville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>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- Defreestville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Defreestville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6595, Longitude: -73.6926       In this case, the coordinates for Defreestville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025