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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 Dobbs Ferry (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 Dobbs Ferry. 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 Dobbs Ferry ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Dobbs Ferry: Dobbs Fry. (or less commonly used: Dobbs Frry.)
  • While the name of this village is Dobbs Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Dobbs Ferry may originally have been Dobb's Ferry.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Dobbs Ferry might be written as Dobb Ferry.

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.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Dobbs Ferry ...

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 111 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dobbs Ferry.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Dobbs Ferry. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Dobbs Ferry and those printed in the larger area surrounding Dobbs Ferry.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> of Dobbs Ferry.

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 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 Dobbs Ferry:

Cemeteries Near Dobbs Ferry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dobbs Ferry.

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

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

  • Cooke Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cooke Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cooke Family Cemetery
  • Temple Israel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Cemetery
  • Westchester Hills Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Ferncliff Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ferncliff Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Hartsdale.
    • The Ferncliff Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hartsdale Ferncliff Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ferncliff Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #64525 <4>
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Rockland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rockland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rockland Cemetery
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Holy Mount Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Mount Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Mount Cemetery
  • Continue List   (515 more) ...
    • Oakland Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oakland Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Yonkers.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakland Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #65498 <4>
    • Bronxville Presbyterian Church Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bronxville Presbyterian Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bronxville Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    • Presbyterian Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presbyterian Cemetery

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 Dobbs Ferry had a population of 2,083 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Dobbs Ferry had a population of 10,919 people.

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

  • Chauncey
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chauncey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chauncey
    • Chauncey is located in Westchester County
  • Hastings-on-Hudson
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Mount Hope
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
    • Mount Hope is located in Westchester County
  • Ardsley
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ardsley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardsley
    • Ardsley is located in Westchester County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,502 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ardsley <6>
  • Woodlands
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodlands have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlands
    • Woodlands is located in Westchester County
  • Irvington
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irvington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvington
    • Irvington is located in Westchester County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,424 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irvington <6>
  • Palisades
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Nepperhan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nepperhan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nepperhan
    • Nepperhan is located in Westchester County
  • Hartsdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Piermont
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piermont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piermont
    • Piermont is located in Rockland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,527 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piermont <6>
  • Sparkill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparkill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparkill
    • Sparkill is located in Rockland County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sparkill <6>
  • Glenwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Glenwood is located in Westchester County
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Bryn Mawr Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryn Mawr Park
      • Bryn Mawr Park is located in Westchester County
    • Tuckahoe
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Elmsford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmsford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmsford
      • Elmsford is located in Westchester County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,193 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elmsford <6>

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

The official website for Dobbs Ferry: www.dobbsferry.com/

The official website for Westchester County: www.westchestergov.com/

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

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>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 from Point A (ie- Dobbs Ferry) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dobbs Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0126, Longitude: -73.8698       In this case, the coordinates for Dobbs Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Dobbs Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024