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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 Merrill (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 Merrill. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Merrill is located in Clinton 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 Clinton County: Essex, Franklin, Chittenden (VT) & Grand Isle (VT).

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

  • Clinton County     (The home county of Merrill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • Lyon Mountain
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Standish
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Standish is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
    • Harrigan
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Harrigan is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrigan
    • Ellenburg Center
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Dannemora
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Churubusco
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Clayburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Clayburg is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayburg
    • Moffitsville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Moffitsville is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffitsville
    • Redford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Cadyville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Altona
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • West Beekmantown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • West Beekmantown is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Beekmantown
    • West Plattsburgh
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • West Plattsburgh is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Plattsburgh
  • Essex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • Bloomingdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Wilmington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • North Jay
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • North Jay is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Jay
    • Jay
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Keeseville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Upper Jay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • Brainardsville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Chateaugay
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Burke
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Whippleville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Merrillsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Merrillsville is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrillsville
    • Alder Brook
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Alder Brook is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Brook
    • Malone
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Constable
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Skerry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Skerry is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skerry
    • Bangor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Franklin Falls
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Franklin Falls is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Falls
    • West Bangor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • West Bangor is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bangor
    • Westville Center
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Westville Center is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville Center
  • Grand Isle County (VT)
    • Adams Landing
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Adams Landing is located in Grand Isle County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Landing

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

Cemeteries Near Merrill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Merrill.

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 Merrill - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Morningside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • West Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Bunker Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Brainardsville Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Star Road Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Hutchins Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Merrill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Bigelow Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Bellmont Center Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • St. Edmunds Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • State Prison Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (139 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Merrill had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Lyon Mountain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Standish
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Standish is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
  • Brainardsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Ellenburg Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wolf Pond
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Wolf Pond is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Pond
  • Russia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Russia is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russia
  • Ellenburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Dannemora
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Chateaugay
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Alder Bend
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Alder Bend is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Bend
  • Ellenburg Depot
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ellenburg Depot is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellenburg Depot
  • Chasm Falls
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Chasm Falls is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chasm Falls
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Goldsmith
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Goldsmith is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldsmith
    • Clayburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Clayburg is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayburg
    • Redford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Merrill ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Merrill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Merrill, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Merrill.

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 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 Merrill:

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 Merrill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Merrill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.