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 Rhode Island (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 Rhode Island. 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 Rhode Island ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Rhode Island: Rhode Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rhode Island. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rhode Island.
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.
Rhode Island is located in Chenango 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 Chenango County: Broome, Cortland, Delaware, Madison & Otsego.
Below are the counties that are near Rhode Island. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rhode Island:
- Chenango County (The home county of Rhode Island)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- South Otselic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Otselic Center
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Otselic Center is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic Center
- Otselic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Otselic is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic
- Beaver Meadow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Beaver Meadow is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Meadow
- Pitcher
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Kirk
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Kirk is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirk
- Plymouth
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Smyrna
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- North Norwich
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- North Norwich is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Norwich
- Sherburne
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Adams Corner
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Adams Corner is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Corner
- Norwich
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Broome County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- Upper Lisle
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Upper Lisle is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Lisle
- Killawog
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Triangle
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Triangle is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle
- Lisle
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Point
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Manningville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Manningville is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manningville
- Quinneville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Quinneville is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinneville
- North Colesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- North Colesville is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Colesville
- Cayuga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- Dresserville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Dresserville is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresserville
- Sempronius
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Sempronius is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sempronius
- Summer Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Summer Hill is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill
- Summer Hill has also been known as:
- Plato
- New Hope
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- New Hope is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
- Kelloggsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Kelloggsville is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelloggsville
- Montville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Montville is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montville
- Cortland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- Crains Mills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Crains Mills is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crains Mills
- Truxton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Solon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Solon is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solon
- East Homer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- East Homer is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Homer
- East River
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- East River is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River
- McGraw
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Cummings Crossing
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Cummings Crossing is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings Crossing
- Slab City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Slab City is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
- Little York
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Little York is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little York
- Pratt Corners
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Pratt Corners is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Corners
- Preble
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Homer
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- DeRuyter
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- DeRuyter is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeRuyter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
- Puckerville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Puckerville is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckerville
- New Woodstock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- New Woodstock is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Woodstock
- Earlville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Union
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Union is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Randallsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Randallsville is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randallsville
- West Eaton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- West Eaton is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Eaton
- Rippleton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Rippleton is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rippleton
- Hamilton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cazenovia
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Hamilton Center
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hamilton Center is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton Center
- Morrisville Station
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Morrisville Station is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville Station
- Oneida County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- Oriskany Falls
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Stockwell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Stockwell is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockwell
- Augusta
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Augusta is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta
- Sangerfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Waterville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sherrill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Oneida Castle
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Oneida Castle is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida Castle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 603 people
- Sconondoa
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Sconondoa is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sconondoa
- Vernon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Onondaga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- Delphi Falls
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Fabius
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Apulia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Apulia is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apulia
- Berwyn
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Berwyn is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn
- Tully
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pompey Center
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Pompey Center is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pompey Center
- Pompey
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Assembly Park
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Assembly Park is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assembly Park
- Log City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Log City is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log City
- Watervale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Watervale is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watervale
- LaFayette
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- LaFayette is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaFayette
- LaFayette has also been known as:
- LaFayette Square
- Te-Ka-Wis-To-Ta
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for LaFayette <1>
- Cardiff
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cardiff is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Otsego County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- South Edmeston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- South Edmeston is located in Otsego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Edmeston
- Pittsfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Pittsfield is located in Otsego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsfield
- Edmeston
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Copes Corner
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Copes Corner is located in Otsego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copes Corner
- Gilbertsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Morris
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Tompkins County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- Groton City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Groton City is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton City
- McLean
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Dryden
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Groton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Freeville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Peruville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Peruville is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peruville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rhode Island, see our County-by-County Page for Rhode Island.
Cemeteries Near Rhode Island ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rhode Island.
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 Rhode Island - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rhode Island covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- Rhode Island Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Seventh Day Hollow Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Valley View Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- North Pitcher Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Ufford Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- North West Corners Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lincklaen Center Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Pink Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Crumb Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Maple Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Maple Grove Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Otselic.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #65178 <2>
- Union Valley Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (449 more) ...
- Pharsalia Center Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Potter Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hinman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
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>
While we didn't find Rhode Island in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rhode Island.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rhode Island, with the one closest to Rhode Island listed first.
- Mariposa
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Mariposa is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariposa
- South Otselic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Otselic Center
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Otselic Center is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic Center
- Lincklaen Center
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lincklaen Center is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincklaen Center
- Lincklaen
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Lincklaen is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincklaen
- North Pitcher
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- North Pitcher is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pitcher
- Pitcher Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Pitcher Springs is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitcher Springs
- Otselic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Otselic is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic
- Pharsalia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Pharsalia is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pharsalia
- North Pharsalia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Pharsalia is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pharsalia
- Beaver Meadow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Beaver Meadow is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Meadow
- Georgetown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Taylor Center
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Taylor Center is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Center
- Pitcher
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- DeRuyter
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- DeRuyter is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeRuyter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rhode Island. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rhode Island.
Newspapers Published in Rhode Island ...
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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rhode Island.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rhode Island, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rhode Island.
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 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 Rhode Island:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Chenango County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Broome County
- Cayuga County
- Cortland County
- Madison County
- Oneida County
- Onondaga County
- Otsego County
- Tompkins County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
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 Rhode Island, 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- Rhode Island) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |