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 Rays Corners (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 Rays Corners. 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 Rays Corners ...
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 have occurred.
- A typical abbreviation for Rays Corners: Rays Cors.
- While the name of this community is Rays Corners, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Rays Corners may originally have been Ray's Corners.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Rays Corners might be written as Ray Corners.
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Rays Corners is located in Cattaraugus 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 Cattaraugus County: Allegany, Chautauqua, Erie, Wyoming, McKean (PA) & Warren (PA).
Below are the counties that are near Rays Corners. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rays Corners:
- Cattaraugus County (The home county of Rays Corners)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rays Corners, with the one closest to Rays Corners listed first.
- Conewango
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conewango
- Conewango is located in Cattaraugus County
- Axeville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axeville
- Axeville is located in Cattaraugus County
- South Dayton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- East Randolph
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Randolph. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Randolph
- East Randolph is located in Cattaraugus County
- Estimated population in 2012: 615 people
- Randolph
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Persia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Persia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
- Persia is located in Cattaraugus County
- Cottage
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cottage. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage
- Cottage is located in Cattaraugus County
- Cattaraugus
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cattaraugus have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cattaraugus
- Cattaraugus is located in Cattaraugus County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cattaraugus <2>
- Little Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Otto
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Perrysburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perrysburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrysburg
- Perrysburg is located in Cattaraugus County
- Estimated population in 2012: 394 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perrysburg <2>
- Gowanda
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Eddyville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eddyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddyville
- Eddyville is located in Cattaraugus County
- Chautauqua County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rays Corners, with the one closest to Rays Corners listed first.
- Cherry Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Cherry Creek is located in Chautauqua County
- Estimated population in 2019: 431 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cherry Creek <2>
- Kennedy
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Wango
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wango. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wango
- Wango is located in Chautauqua County
- Poland Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Poland Center. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poland Center
- Poland Center is located in Chautauqua County
- Sinclairville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Gerry
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Ross Mills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross Mills
- Ross Mills is located in Chautauqua County
- Falconer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falconer have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falconer
- Falconer is located in Chautauqua County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,235 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falconer <2>
- Moons
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Moons. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moons
- Moons is located in Chautauqua County
- Parcells Corners
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parcells Corners
- Parcells Corners is located in Chautauqua County
- South Stockton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Stockton
- South Stockton is located in Chautauqua County
- Ivory
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory
- Ivory is located in Chautauqua County
- Cassadaga
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Erie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rays Corners, with the one closest to Rays Corners listed first.
- Morton Corners
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Morton Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morton Corners
- Morton Corners is located in Erie County
- Brant
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Farnham
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farnham have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farnham
- Farnham is located in Erie County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farnham <2>
- Shirley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shirley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Shirley is located in Erie County
- North Collins
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Collins have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Collins
- North Collins is located in Erie County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,194 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Collins <2>
- Lake Erie Beach
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Erie Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Erie Beach
- Lake Erie Beach is located in Erie County
- Pontiac
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontiac
- Pontiac is located in Erie County
- Concord
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Concord is located in Erie County
- Wyandale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandale
- Wyandale is located in Erie County
- Angola
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Springville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
- Springville is located in Erie County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,273 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Springville <2>
- Angola-on-the-Lake
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Angola-on-the-Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angola-on-the-Lake
- Angola-on-the-Lake is located in Erie County
- Eden
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- McKean County (PA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rays Corners, with the one closest to Rays Corners listed first.
- Tuna
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tuna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuna
- Tuna is located in McKean County (PA)
- Bradford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Foster Brook
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Foster Brook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Brook
- Foster Brook is located in McKean County (PA)
- Warren County (PA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rays Corners, with the one closest to Rays Corners listed first.
- Putnamville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putnamville
- Putnamville is located in Warren County (PA)
- Sugar Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Warren County (PA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar Grove <2>
- Kinzua ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinzua
- Kinzua is located in Warren County (PA)
- Big Bend
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
- Big Bend is located in Warren County (PA)
- East Warren
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Warren
- East Warren is located in Warren County (PA)
- Hemlock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
- Hemlock is located in Warren County (PA)
- Warren
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Lottsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lottsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottsville
- Lottsville is located in Warren County (PA)
- Bear Lake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rays Corners, see our County-by-County Page for Rays Corners.
Cemeteries Near Rays Corners ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rays Corners.
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 Rays Corners covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rays Corners, with the one closest to Rays Corners listed first.
- West Amish Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Leon Hollow Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Little Clear Creek Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Clear Creek Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Clear Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Rutledge Rural Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Treat Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Treat Cemetery
- The Treat Cemetery has also been known as:
- Leon Center Cemetery
- Leon Union Cemetery
- Treat Memorial Cemetery
- Union Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #66536 <5>
- Highland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Valley View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley View Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Pioneer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Axeville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Axeville Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Axeville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Kendell Flats Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kendell Flats Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kendell Flats Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- South Amish Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Villenova Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (221 more) ...
- Tug Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Lower New Albion Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower New Albion Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lower New Albion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Snyder Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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.<6>
While we didn't find Rays Corners in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rays Corners.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rays Corners, with the one closest to Rays Corners listed first.
- Conewango Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conewango Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conewango Valley
- Conewango Valley is located in Cattaraugus County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Conewango Valley <2>
- Conewango
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conewango
- Conewango is located in Cattaraugus County
- Leon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
- Leon is located in Cattaraugus County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leon <2>
- Clear Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clear Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Creek
- Clear Creek is located in Cattaraugus County
- Cherry Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
- Cherry Creek is located in Chautauqua County
- Estimated population in 2019: 431 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cherry Creek <2>
- Ellington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellington have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellington
- Ellington is located in Chautauqua County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ellington <2>
- Waterboro
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterboro have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterboro
- Waterboro is located in Chautauqua County
- South Dayton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- East Leon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Leon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leon
- East Leon is located in Cattaraugus County
- Kennedy
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Randolph
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- East Randolph
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Randolph. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Randolph
- East Randolph is located in Cattaraugus County
- Estimated population in 2012: 615 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- New Albion
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Albion have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Albion
- New Albion is located in Cattaraugus County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Albion <2>
- Wesley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wesley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
- Wesley is located in Cattaraugus County
- Hamlet
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamlet have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
- Hamlet is located in Chautauqua County
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rays Corners. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rays Corners.
Newspapers Published in Rays Corners ...
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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rays Corners.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rays Corners, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rays Corners.
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 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 Rays Corners:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Cattaraugus County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Chautauqua County
- Erie County
- McKean County
- Warren County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rays Corners. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Cattaraugus County: www.co.cattaraugus.ny.us/
The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/
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> | 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 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. |
<5> | 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. |
<6> | 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 Rays Corners, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
<7> | 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- Rays Corners) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rays Corners. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2698, Longitude: -79.0456 In this case, the coordinates for Rays Corners have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |