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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 Elma (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 Elma. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Elma is located in Erie 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 Erie County: Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Niagara & Wyoming.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Elma ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elma.

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

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

  • Union Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Adalbert's Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Adalbert's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Adalbert's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Augustines Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Augustines Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Augustines Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Angle Road Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Angle Road Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Angle Road Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Marilla Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marilla Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marilla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maplewood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • German Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the German Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the German Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Rest Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Rest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Rest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Transit Rural Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Transit Rural Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Transit Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • John Wolf Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the John Wolf Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the John Wolf Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (359 more) ...

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 Elma had a population of 130 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Elma Center
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elma Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma Center
    • Elma Center is located in Erie County
  • Spring Brook Station
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Brook Station have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Brook Station
    • Spring Brook Station is located in Erie County
  • Spring Brook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Blossom
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • East Seneca
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Seneca have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Seneca
    • East Seneca is located in Erie County
  • Jamison Road
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jamison Road have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison Road
    • Jamison Road is located in Erie County
  • East Elma
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Elma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Elma
    • East Elma is located in Erie County
  • Lancaster
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • East Lancaster
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lancaster have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lancaster
    • East Lancaster is located in Erie County
  • Marilla
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marilla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marilla
    • Marilla is located in Erie County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marilla <3>
  • Town Line
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • West Seneca
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Ebenezer
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ebenezer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
      • Ebenezer is located in Erie County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ebenezer
      • From Elma to Ebenezer
    • East Aurora
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Aurora
      • East Aurora is located in Erie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Aurora <3>
    • Porterville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Elma ...

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 299 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elma.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Elma. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Elma and those printed in the larger area surrounding Elma.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6> of Elma.

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 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 Elma:

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

The official website for Erie County: www.erie.gov/

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>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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Elma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Elma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8507, Longitude: -78.6403    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025