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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 McLean (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 McLean. 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 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.

McLean is located in Tompkins 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 Tompkins County: Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca & Tioga.

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

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

Cemeteries Near McLean ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McLean.

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

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

  • McLean Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McLean Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McLean Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Patricks Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patricks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patricks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Scofield Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Scofield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Scofield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Groton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Groton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Groton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McAllister Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McAllister Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McAllister Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Peruville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peruville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peruville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Willow Glen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Groton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Groton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Groton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Anthonys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Anthonys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Anthonys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Virgil Rural Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Virgil Rural Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Virgil Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cortland Rural Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cortland Rural Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cortland Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (441 more) ...
    • Hinman Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hinman Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hinman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Summerhill Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Summerhill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Summerhill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Etna Community Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Etna Community Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Etna Community Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that McLean had a population of 453 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Freeville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeville
    • Freeville is located in Tompkins County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeville <2>
  • South Cortland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Cortland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Cortland
    • South Cortland is located in Cortland County
  • Dryden
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dryden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryden
    • Dryden is located in Tompkins County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,996 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dryden <2>
  • Groton City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton City
    • Groton City is located in Tompkins County
  • Groton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Peruville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peruville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peruville
    • Peruville is located in Tompkins County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Peruville
    • From McLean to Peruville
  • Virgil
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virgil have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
    • Virgil is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virgil <2>
  • West Dryden
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Dryden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Dryden
    • West Dryden is located in Tompkins County
  • Etna
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Etna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
    • Etna is located in Tompkins County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Etna <2>
  • Summer Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Cortland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Blodgett Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blodgett Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blodgett Mills
    • Blodgett Mills is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blodgett Mills <2>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Homer
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • West Groton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Ellis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
      • Ellis is located in Tompkins County

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

Newspapers Published in McLean ...

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 102 newspapers that have been published in the area around McLean.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McLean, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McLean.

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 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 McLean:

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

The official website for Tompkins County: www.co.tompkins.ny.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 McLean, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- McLean) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McLean. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5522, Longitude: -76.2912    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025