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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 Rices (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 Rices. 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 Rices ...

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.

While the name of this community is Rices, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Rices may originally have been Rice's.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rices. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rices.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Rices is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Lewis, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Jefferson County     (The home county of Rices)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rices, with the one closest to Rices listed first.
    • Alverson
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Alverson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alverson
    • Watertown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Adams Center
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Glen Park is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 462 people
    • Paddy Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Paddy Hill is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddy Hill
    • Brownville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • East Rodman
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
    • Dexter
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Adams
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Adams is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,687 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adams <2>
    • Lyon Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lyon Corner is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Corner
    • Sackets Harbor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Limerick
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Boultons Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Boultons Beach is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boultons Beach
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rices, with the one closest to Rices listed first.
    • Barnes Corners
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Barnes Corners is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes Corners
    • New Boston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • New Boston is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Boston
    • Copenhagen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Harrisburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Harrisburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
    • Rector
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Rector is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rector
    • Denmark
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Denmark is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
    • Parkers
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Parkers is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkers
    • Briggs Corner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Briggs Corner is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs Corner
    • Castorland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Naumburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Naumburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
    • Lowville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • West Martinsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • West Martinsburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Martinsburg
    • Forest City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Forest City is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
  • Oswego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rices, with the one closest to Rices listed first.
    • Lacona
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Sandy Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Smartville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Smartville is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smartville
    • Chateaugay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Chateaugay is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chateaugay
    • Orwell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Richland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Pulaski
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Redfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Altmar
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Daysville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Daysville is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daysville
    • Daysville Corner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Daysville Corner is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daysville Corner
    • Albion Center
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Albion Center is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion Center

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

Cemeteries Near Rices ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rices.

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

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

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

  • Fields Settlement Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Degel Israel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • North Adams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Glenwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Glenwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Watertown.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #64662 <3>
  • Brookside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Graves Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Rices Corners Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Honeyville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Isham Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Zoar Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Muskalonge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (155 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Rices had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • East Hounsfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • East Hounsfield is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hounsfield
  • Alverson
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Alverson is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alverson
  • Adams Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Rodman
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Watertown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • East Rodman
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
  • East Watertown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • East Watertown is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Watertown
  • Brownville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Smithville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Smithville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithville
  • Adams
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Adams is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,687 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adams <2>
  • Dexter
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Sackets Harbor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Limerick
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Pillar Point
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Pillar Point is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillar Point
    • Lorraine
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Rices ...

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 139 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rices.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rices, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rices.

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 Rices:

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>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- Rices) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rices, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.