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 Lake Colby (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 Lake Colby. 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 Lake Colby ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Lake Colby: Lk. Colby
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 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.
Lake Colby is located in Franklin 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 Franklin County: Clinton, Essex, Hamilton & Saint Lawrence.
Below are the counties that are near Lake Colby. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lake Colby:
- Franklin County (The home county of Lake Colby)
- The following are listed by their distance from Lake Colby, with the one closest to Lake Colby listed first.
- Harrietstown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Harrietstown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietstown
- Paul Smiths
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Saranac Inn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Saranac Inn is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saranac Inn
- Franklin Falls
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Franklin Falls is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Falls
- Merrillsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Merrillsville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrillsville
- Alder Brook
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Alder Brook is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Brook
- Altamont
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Altamont is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
- Tupper Lake
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Regis Falls
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Skerry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Skerry is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skerry
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lake Colby, with the one closest to Lake Colby listed first.
- Black Brook
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Black Brook is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Brook
- Clayburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Clayburg is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayburg
- Au Sable Forks
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Redford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Standish
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Standish is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
- Thomasville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Thomasville is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomasville
- Moffitsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Moffitsville is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffitsville
- Lyon Mountain
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Harkness
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Harkness is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harkness
- Essex County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lake Colby, with the one closest to Lake Colby listed first.
- Saranac Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Bloomingdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ray Brook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Whiteface
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Whiteface is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteface
- Lake Placid
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- North Elba
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- North Elba is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Elba
- Wilmington
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Upper Jay
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Jay
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Tahawus
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Saint Huberts
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Huberts is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Huberts
- North Jay
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- North Jay is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Jay
- Saint Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lake Colby, with the one closest to Lake Colby listed first.
- Horseshoe
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Horseshoe is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe
- Sevey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Sevey is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sevey
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Lake Colby, see our County-by-County Page for Lake Colby.
Cemeteries Near Lake Colby ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Colby.
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 Lake Colby - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Lake Colby covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lake Colby, with the one closest to Lake Colby listed first.
- St. Bernards Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Pine Ridge Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Brookside Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Brighton Memorial Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Union Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Holy Name Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- North Elba Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- John Browns Grave
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (36 more) ...
- Goodspeed Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Franklin Falls Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Union Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Lake Colby in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lake Colby.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Lake Colby, with the one closest to Lake Colby listed first.
- Saranac Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Harrietstown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Harrietstown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietstown
- Ray Brook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bloomingdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Vermontville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Paul Smiths
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Saranac Inn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Saranac Inn is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saranac Inn
- Lake Placid
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Franklin Falls
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Franklin Falls is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Falls
- North Elba
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- North Elba is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Elba
- Alder Brook
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Alder Brook is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Brook
- Loon Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Loon Lake is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loon Lake
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Union Falls
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Union Falls is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Falls
- Wilmington
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Goldsmith
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Goldsmith is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldsmith
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Lake Colby. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lake Colby.
Newspapers Published in Lake Colby ...
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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Colby.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake Colby, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake Colby.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Lake Colby:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Franklin County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clinton County
- Essex County
- Saint Lawrence County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
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 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. |
| <3> | 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 Lake Colby, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Lake Colby) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |