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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 Fishers Island (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 Fishers Island. 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 Fishers Island ...

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 Fishers Island: Fishers Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)
  • While the name of this community is Fishers Island, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Fishers Island may originally have been Fisher's Island.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Fishers Island might be written as Fisher Island.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Fishers Island is located in Suffolk County.

To see how the shape of New York's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

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

  • Suffolk County     (The home county of Fishers Island)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fishers Island, with the one closest to Fishers Island listed first.
    • Orient Point
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Point
      • Orient Point is located in Suffolk County
    • Ditch Plains
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ditch Plains
      • Ditch Plains is located in Suffolk County
    • Montauk
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montauk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montauk
      • Montauk is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montauk <3>
    • Orient
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orient have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient
      • Orient is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orient <3>
    • Napeague
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Napeague have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napeague
      • Napeague is located in Suffolk County
    • Alberts Landing
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberts Landing
      • Alberts Landing is located in Suffolk County
    • Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springs
      • Springs is located in Suffolk County
    • East Marion
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Marion have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Marion
      • East Marion is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Marion <3>
    • Northwest Harbor
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northwest Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwest Harbor
      • Northwest Harbor is located in Suffolk County
    • Amagansett
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amagansett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amagansett
      • Amagansett is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Amagansett <3>
    • Dering Harbor
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dering Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dering Harbor
      • Dering Harbor is located in Suffolk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
    • Greenport
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Middlesex County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fishers Island, with the one closest to Fishers Island listed first.
    • Fenwick
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwick
      • Fenwick is located in Middlesex County (CT)
    • Old Saybrook
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Saybrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Saybrook
      • Old Saybrook is located in Middlesex County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,028 people
    • Old Saybrook
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Saybrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Saybrook
      • Old Saybrook is located in Middlesex County (CT)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Saybrook <3>
    • Plum Bank Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Bank Beach
      • Plum Bank Beach is located in Middlesex County (CT)
    • Saybrook Manor
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saybrook Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saybrook Manor
      • Saybrook Manor is located in Middlesex County (CT)
    • Essex
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Crowley Corner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowley Corner
      • Crowley Corner is located in Middlesex County (CT)
    • Centerbrook
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Essex
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Essex have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex
      • Essex is located in Middlesex County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,634 people
    • Ivoryton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Westbrook
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Deep River
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • New Haven County (CT)
  • New London County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fishers Island, with the one closest to Fishers Island listed first.
    • Noank
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Eastern Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eastern Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastern Point
      • Eastern Point is located in New London County (CT)
    • Groton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
      • Groton is located in New London County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,872 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groton <3>
    • Groton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
      • Groton is located in New London County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38,258 people
    • Long Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hill
      • Long Hill is located in New London County (CT)
    • Pequot Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pequot Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequot Village
      • Pequot Village is located in New London County (CT)
    • Poquonock Bridge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poquonock Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poquonock Bridge
      • Poquonock Bridge is located in New London County (CT)
    • West Mystic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Mystic have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Mystic
      • West Mystic is located in New London County (CT)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Mystic <3>
    • New London
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New London have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
      • New London is located in New London County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,870 people
    • Mystic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • New London
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
      • New London is located in New London County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,870 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New London <3>
    • Pleasure Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasure Beach
      • Pleasure Beach is located in New London County (CT)
  • Tolland County (CT)
    • Amston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Windham County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fishers Island, with the one closest to Fishers Island listed first.
    • Ekonk
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ekonk. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekonk
      • Ekonk is located in Windham County (CT)
    • Plainfield Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield Village
      • Plainfield Village is located in Windham County (CT)
    • Plainfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Canterbury
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canterbury have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canterbury
      • Canterbury is located in Windham County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,088 people
    • Canterbury
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Scotland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
      • Scotland is located in Windham County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,664 people
    • Scotland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • South Windham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Fishers Island ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fishers Island.

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

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

  • St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Union Chapel
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Fishers Island Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Col Ledyard Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Col Ledyard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Col Ledyard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Packer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Fishtown Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fishtown Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fishtown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gardiners Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gardiners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gardiners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Great Neck Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Great Neck Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Great Neck Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rogers Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rogers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rogers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smith Lake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Miner Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (267 more) ...
    • Dennison Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dennison Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dennison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mason Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mason Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mason Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fish Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fish Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Fishers Island had a population of 324 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Groton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
    • Groton is located in New London County (CT)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,872 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groton <3>
  • Noank
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Poquonock Bridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poquonock Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poquonock Bridge
    • Poquonock Bridge is located in New London County (CT)
  • West Mystic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Mystic have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Mystic
    • West Mystic is located in New London County (CT)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Mystic <3>
  • New London
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
    • New London is located in New London County (CT)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,870 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New London <3>
  • Mystic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Waterford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
    • Waterford is located in New London County (CT)
    • Waterford has also been known as:
    • Central Waterford
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterford <3>
  • Stonington
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Old Mystic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Mystic have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Mystic
    • Old Mystic is located in New London County (CT)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Mystic <3>
  • Niantic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Quaker Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quaker Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Hill
    • Quaker Hill is located in New London County (CT)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Quaker Hill <3>
  • Crescent Beach
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crescent Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Beach
    • Crescent Beach is located in New London County (CT)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Fishers Island ...

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 93 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fishers Island.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fishers Island, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fishers Island.

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 either 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 Fishers Island:

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

The official website for Suffolk County: www.co.suffolk.ny.us/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Fishers Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Fishers Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fishers Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2570, Longitude: -72.0240       In this case, the coordinates for Fishers Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025