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 McMasters Crossing (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 McMasters Crossing. 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 McMasters Crossing ...
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 McMasters Crossing: McMasters Xing.
- While the name of this community is McMasters Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So McMasters Crossing may originally have been McMaster's Crossing.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case McMasters Crossing might be written as McMaster Crossing.
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 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.
McMasters Crossing 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 McMasters Crossing. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to McMasters Crossing:
- Franklin County (The home county of McMasters Crossing)
- The following are listed by their distance from McMasters Crossing, with the one closest to McMasters Crossing listed first.
- Harrietstown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Harrietstown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietstown
- Saranac Inn
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Saranac Inn is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saranac Inn
- Paul Smiths
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Franklin Falls
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Franklin Falls is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Falls
- Merrillsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Merrillsville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrillsville
- Altamont
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Altamont is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
- Tupper Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Alder Brook
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Alder Brook is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Brook
- Saint Regis Falls
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Skerry
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Skerry is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skerry
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from McMasters Crossing, with the one closest to McMasters Crossing listed first.
- Black Brook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Black Brook is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Brook
- Clayburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Clayburg is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayburg
- Redford
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Standish
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Standish is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
- Au Sable Forks
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Lyon Mountain
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Thomasville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Thomasville is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomasville
- Moffitsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Moffitsville is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffitsville
- Essex County
- The following are listed by their distance from McMasters Crossing, with the one closest to McMasters Crossing listed first.
- Saranac Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Bloomingdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ray Brook
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Whiteface
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Whiteface is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteface
- Lake Placid
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- North Elba
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- North Elba is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Elba
- Wilmington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Upper Jay
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Tahawus
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Jay
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Saint Huberts
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Huberts is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Huberts
- Newcomb
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Saint Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from McMasters Crossing, with the one closest to McMasters Crossing listed first.
- Horseshoe
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Horseshoe is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe
- Sevey
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Sevey is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sevey
- Stark
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Stark is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stark
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to McMasters Crossing, see our County-by-County Page for McMasters Crossing.
Cemeteries Near McMasters Crossing ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McMasters Crossing.
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 McMasters Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for McMasters Crossing covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from McMasters Crossing, with the one closest to McMasters Crossing listed first.
- St. Johns Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- St. Bernards Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Ridge Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Brighton Memorial Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Holy Name Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Brookside Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Union Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- John Browns Grave
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- North Elba Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (34 more) ...
- Lakeview Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Beth Joseph Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- St. Alphonsus Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
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>
While we didn't find McMasters Crossing in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of McMasters Crossing.
These communities are listed based on their distance from McMasters Crossing, with the one closest to McMasters Crossing listed first.
- Saranac Lake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Harrietstown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Harrietstown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietstown
- Saranac Inn
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Saranac Inn is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saranac Inn
- Paul Smiths
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Ray Brook
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bloomingdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Vermontville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Placid
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Franklin Falls
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Franklin Falls is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Falls
- North Elba
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- North Elba is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Elba
- Tupper Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Loon Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Loon Lake is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loon Lake
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Alder Brook
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Alder Brook is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Brook
- Union Falls
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Union Falls is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Falls
- Goldsmith
(18 miles [29 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 McMasters Crossing. See our List of 1890's Communities around McMasters Crossing.
Newspapers Published in McMasters Crossing ...
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 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around McMasters Crossing.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McMasters Crossing, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McMasters Crossing.
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 McMasters Crossing:
- 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> | 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 McMasters Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- McMasters Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |