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 Felts Mills (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 Felts Mills. 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 Felts Mills ...
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 occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Felts Mills: Felts Mls. (or less commonly used: Felts Mlls.)
- While the name of this community is Felts Mills, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Felts Mills may originally have been Felt's Mills.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Felts Mills might be written as Felt Mills.
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 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.
Felts Mills is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Lewis, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.
Below are the counties that are near Felts Mills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Felts Mills:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Felts Mills)
- The following are listed by their distance from Felts Mills, with the one closest to Felts Mills listed first.
- Black River
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Great Bend
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Deferiet
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Calcium
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Herrings
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Herrings is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrings
- Estimated population in 2017: 90 people
- Evans Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sterlingville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
- West Carthage
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- West Carthage is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Carthage
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
- Carthage
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Watertown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Philadelphia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Glen Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Glen Park is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 462 people
- Paddy Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Paddy Hill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddy Hill
- Lewis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Felts Mills, with the one closest to Felts Mills listed first.
- Copenhagen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Denmark
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Denmark is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
- Barnes Corners
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Barnes Corners is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes Corners
- Harrisburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Harrisburg is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- New Boston
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- New Boston is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Boston
- Briggs Corner
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Briggs Corner is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs Corner
- Castorland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Naumburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Naumburg is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
- Forest City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Forest City is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- Rector
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Rector is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rector
- Indian River
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Indian River is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River
- Lake Bonaparte
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Bonaparte is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bonaparte
- Croghan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Oswego County
- The following are listed by their distance from Felts Mills, with the one closest to Felts Mills listed first.
- Smartville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Smartville is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smartville
- Lacona
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sandy Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Felts Mills, with the one closest to Felts Mills listed first.
- Somerville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Somerville is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Wegatchie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wegatchie is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegatchie
- Elmdale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Elmdale is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
- Schermerhorn Landing
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Schermerhorn Landing is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schermerhorn Landing
- Gouverneur
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hammond
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Jayville ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Jayville is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jayville
- Talcville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Talcville is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talcville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Felts Mills, see our County-by-County Page for Felts Mills.
Cemeteries Near Felts Mills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Felts Mills.
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 Felts Mills - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Felts Mills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Felts Mills, with the one closest to Felts Mills listed first.
- Clark Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cotes Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- F W Woolworth Memorial Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Sheepfold Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Rutland Hollow Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Sanford Corners Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hillside Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Calvary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Maple Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Sandy Lawn Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- North Watertown Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (157 more) ...
- South Champion Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Hoover Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Arsenal Street Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Felts Mills had a population of 441 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Felts Mills, with the one closest to Felts Mills listed first.
- Black River
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Great Bend
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Champion
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Champion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion
- Evans Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- East Watertown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Watertown is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Watertown
- Sterlingville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
- Watertown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Carthage
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Copenhagen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- North Wilna
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- North Wilna is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wilna
- Philadelphia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Deer River
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- East Hounsfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- East Hounsfield is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hounsfield
- East Rodman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
- Brownville
(11 miles [17.7 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 Felts Mills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Felts Mills.
Newspapers Published in Felts Mills ...
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 150 newspapers that have been published in the area around Felts Mills.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Felts Mills, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Felts Mills.
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 Felts Mills:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Lewis County
- Oswego County
- Saint Lawrence 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 Felts Mills, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Felts Mills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |