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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 Forsyth (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 Forsyth. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Forsyth is located in Chautauqua 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 Chautauqua County: Cattaraugus, Erie, Erie (PA) & Warren (PA).

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

  • Chautauqua County     (The home county of Forsyth)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forsyth, with the one closest to Forsyth listed first.
    • Ripley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Westfield
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
      • Westfield is located in Chautauqua County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,962 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westfield <1>
    • Bournes Beach
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mayville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
      • Mayville is located in Chautauqua County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,565 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayville <1>
    • Hartfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hartfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartfield
      • Hartfield is located in Chautauqua County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hartfield
      • From Forsyth to Hartfield
    • Wooglin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Sherman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Portland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Slab City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slab City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
      • Slab City is located in Chautauqua County
    • Stebbins Corners
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Brocton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brocton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brocton
      • Brocton is located in Chautauqua County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,382 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brocton <1>
    • Findley Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Erie County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forsyth, with the one closest to Forsyth listed first.
    • Freeport
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • North East
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Hornby
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hornby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornby
      • Hornby is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hornby
      • From Forsyth to Hornby
    • Wattsburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wattsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsburg
      • Wattsburg is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wattsburg <1>
    • Lawrence Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence Park
      • Lawrence Park is located in Erie County (PA)
    • Phillipsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wesleyville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Arbuckle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arbuckle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbuckle
      • Arbuckle is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arbuckle
      • From Forsyth to Arbuckle
    • Erie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Beaver Dam
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Corry
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Elgin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Warren County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forsyth, with the one closest to Forsyth listed first.
    • Bear Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Columbus
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Colza
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Colza. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colza
      • Colza is located in Warren County (PA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Colza
      • From Forsyth to Colza
    • Lottsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lottsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottsville
      • Lottsville is located in Warren County (PA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lottsville
      • From Forsyth to Lottsville
    • Sugar Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
      • Sugar Grove is located in Warren County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar Grove <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Forsyth ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forsyth.

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

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

  • East Ripley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Ripley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Ripley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quincy Rural Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quincy Rural Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quincy Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Porter Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Porter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Porter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old St. James Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Westfield Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. James Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Northville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Northville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Northville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Phillips Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Phillips Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Phillips Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Ripley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Ripley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Ripley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mayville Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Sherman Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sherman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sherman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (135 more) ...
    • Mina Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mina Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mina Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Chautauqua Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chautauqua Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chautauqua Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen 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.<5>

While we didn't find Forsyth in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Forsyth.

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

  • Ripley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lombard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lombard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lombard
    • Lombard is located in Chautauqua County
  • Westfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
    • Westfield is located in Chautauqua County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,962 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westfield <1>
  • State Line
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Line have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
    • State Line is located in Chautauqua County
  • Summerdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerdale
    • Summerdale is located in Chautauqua County
  • South Ripley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Ripley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ripley
    • South Ripley is located in Chautauqua County
  • Mayville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
    • Mayville is located in Chautauqua County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,565 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayville <1>
  • Sherman
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Wooglin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Hartfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hartfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartfield
    • Hartfield is located in Chautauqua County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hartfield
    • From Forsyth to Hartfield
  • North East
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Mina
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mina have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mina
    • Mina is located in Chautauqua County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Chautauqua
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chautauqua have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chautauqua
      • Chautauqua is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chautauqua <1>
    • Dewittville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dewittville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewittville
      • Dewittville is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dewittville <1>
    • Portland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Forsyth ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forsyth.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forsyth, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forsyth.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Forsyth:

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

The official website for Chautauqua County: www.co.chautauqua.ny.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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.
<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 Forsyth, 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- Forsyth) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Forsyth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2922, Longitude: -79.6536    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025