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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 Mays 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 Mays 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 Mays 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 Mays Mills: Mays Mls. (or less commonly used: Mays Mlls.)
  • While the name of this community is Mays Mills, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Mays Mills may originally have been May's Mills.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Mays Mills might be written as May 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Mays Mills is located in Yates 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 Yates County: Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca & Steuben.

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

  • Yates County     (The home county of Mays Mills)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Seneca Mills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Seneca Mills is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca Mills
    • Dresden
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Penn Yan
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Angus
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Angus is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
    • Benton Center
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Benton Center is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Center
    • Himrod
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Bellona
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Keuka Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Yatesville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Yatesville is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
    • Barrington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Barrington is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington
    • Dundee
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Potter
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Potter is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter
  • Cayuga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Willets
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Willets is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willets
    • Aurora
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Atwaters
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Atwaters is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwaters
    • Black Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Black Rock is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Rock
    • Ledyard
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Ledyard is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledyard
    • Poplar Ridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Sherwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Sherwood is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
    • Union Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Scipioville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Scipioville is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scipioville
    • Cross Roads
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cross Roads is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
    • Cayuga
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Oakwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Oakwood is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
  • Chemung County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Millport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Post Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Post Creek is located in Chemung County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Creek
  • Livingston County
  • Ontario County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Billsboro
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Billsboro is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billsboro
    • Hall
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gorham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Geneva
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Flint
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Flint is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
    • Dobbins Corner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Dobbins Corner is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dobbins Corner
    • Seneca Castle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Cottage City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Cottage City is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage City
    • Melvin Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Melvin Hill is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin Hill
    • Hopewell Center
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Hopewell Center is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Center
    • Woodville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Woodville is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
    • West Junius
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • West Junius is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Junius
  • Schuyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Hector
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • North Reading
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • North Reading is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Reading
    • Wayne
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Logan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Logan is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan
    • Reading Center
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Searsburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Searsburg is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searsburg
    • Burdett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Bennettsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Bennettsburg is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennettsburg
    • Perry City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Watkins Glen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Watkins Glen is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watkins Glen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,851 people
      • Former names for Watkins Glen:
      • Jefferson
      • Salubria
      • Watkins
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watkins Glen <2>
    • Mecklenburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Townsend
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Townsend is located in Schuyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsend
  • Seneca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Willard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Ovid
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lodi
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Romulus
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • East Varick
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • East Varick is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Varick
    • Interlaken
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Interlaken is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
      • Former names for Interlaken:
      • Farmer Village
      • Farmer
      • Farmerville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Interlaken <2>
    • Border City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Border City is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border City
    • Kidders
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Kidders is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kidders
    • Kuneytown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Kuneytown is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kuneytown
    • Waterloo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Canoga
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Canoga is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canoga
    • Seneca Falls
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Steuben County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Keuka
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Keuka is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keuka
    • Catawba
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Catawba is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catawba
    • South Pulteney
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • South Pulteney is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pulteney
    • Prattsburgh
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Prattsburgh is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattsburgh
    • Urbana
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Urbana is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbana
    • Bradford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Hammondsport
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mitchellsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Mitchellsville is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchellsville
    • Pleasant Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Sonora
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Sonora is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonora
    • Cold Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Cold Springs is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
    • Hermitage
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hermitage is located in Steuben County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
  • Tompkins County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Trumansburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Ridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Lake Ridge is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ridge
    • Taughannock Falls
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Taughannock Falls is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taughannock Falls
    • Jacksonville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jacksonville is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
    • Willow Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Creek is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
    • Myers
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Myers is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myers
    • North Lansing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • North Lansing is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lansing
    • East Lansing
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • East Lansing is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lansing
    • West Groton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • West Groton is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Groton
    • Lansing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cayuga Heights
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cayuga Heights is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,526 people
    • Ithaca
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ithaca is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithaca
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,981 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ithaca <2>
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mays Mills, with the one closest to Mays Mills listed first.
    • Newark
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Lyons
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Mud Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Mud Mills is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Mills
    • Clyde
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Palmyra
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • East Palmyra
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • East Palmyra is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Palmyra
    • Yellow Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Yellow Mills is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Mills

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

Cemeteries Near Mays Mills ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mays 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 Mays Mills - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mays Mills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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 in 1895, Mays Mills had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Seneca Mills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Seneca Mills is located in Yates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca Mills
  • Milo Mills
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Milo Mills is located in Yates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo Mills
  • Dresden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Penn Yan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Second Milo
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Second Milo is located in Yates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Second Milo
  • Angus
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Angus is located in Yates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
  • Benton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Benton is located in Yates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
  • Himrod
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Benton Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Benton Center is located in Yates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Center
  • Bluff Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Willard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Bellona
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Kendaia
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Kendaia is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendaia
    • Barrington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Barrington is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington
    • Ovid
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Mays 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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mays Mills.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mays Mills, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mays Mills.

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 Mays Mills:

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 Mays Mills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Mays Mills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.