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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 Ripley (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 Ripley. 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 southeast 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 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.

Ripley is located in Chautauqua 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 Chautauqua County: Cattaraugus, Erie, Erie (PA) & Warren (PA).

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

  • Chautauqua County     (The home county of Ripley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ripley, with the one closest to Ripley listed first.
    • Forsyth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forsyth
      • Forsyth is located in Chautauqua County
    • Westfield
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
      • Westfield is located in Chautauqua County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,962 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westfield <2>
    • Sherman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Mayville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
      • Mayville is located in Chautauqua County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,565 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayville <2>
    • Bournes Beach
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bournes Beach
      • Bournes Beach is located in Chautauqua County
    • Findley Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Slab City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slab City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
      • Slab City is located in Chautauqua County
    • Stebbins Corners
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stebbins Corners
      • Stebbins Corners is located in Chautauqua County
    • Hartfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartfield
      • Hartfield is located in Chautauqua County
    • Wooglin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooglin
      • Wooglin is located in Chautauqua County
    • French Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Creek
      • French Creek is located in Chautauqua County
    • Stedman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stedman
      • Stedman is located in Chautauqua County
  • Crawford County (PA)
    • Spartansburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spartansburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spartansburg
      • Spartansburg is located in Crawford County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spartansburg <2>
  • Erie County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ripley, with the one closest to Ripley listed first.
    • Freeport
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Erie County (PA)
    • North East
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North East have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North East
      • North East is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,013 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North East <2>
    • Hornby
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hornby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornby
      • Hornby is located in Erie County (PA)
    • Lawrence Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence Park
      • Lawrence Park is located in Erie County (PA)
    • Wesleyville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wesleyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesleyville
      • Wesleyville is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,093 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wesleyville <2>
    • Phillipsville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsville
      • Phillipsville is located in Erie County (PA)
    • Wattsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wattsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsburg
      • Wattsburg is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wattsburg <2>
    • Erie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
      • Erie is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 95,077 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <2>
    • Beaver Dam
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Dam
      • Beaver Dam is located in Erie County (PA)
    • Corry
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corry
      • Corry is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,180 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corry <2>
    • Kearsarge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kearsarge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
      • Kearsarge is located in Erie County (PA)
    • Elgin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Elgin is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
  • Warren County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ripley, with the one closest to Ripley listed first.
    • Bear Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Columbus
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Colza
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colza have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colza
      • Colza is located in Warren County (PA)
    • Sugar Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>
    • West Spring Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Spring Creek
      • West Spring Creek is located in Warren County (PA)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ripley ...

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 135 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ripley.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ripley. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ripley and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ripley.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<3> of Ripley.

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 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 Ripley:

Cemeteries Near Ripley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ripley.

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 Ripley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Quincy Rural Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quincy Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quincy Rural Cemetery
  • East Ripley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Ripley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Ripley Cemetery
  • Northville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Northville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Northville Cemetery
  • Phillips Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Phillips Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Phillips Cemetery
  • South Ripley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Ripley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Ripley Cemetery
  • Porter Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Porter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Porter Cemetery
  • Old St. James Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. James Cemetery
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
  • Westfield Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westfield Cemetery
  • St. James Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Cemetery
  • Mina Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mina Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mina Cemetery
  • Sherman Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sherman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sherman Cemetery
  • Continue List   (127 more) ...
    • St. Gregory Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Gregory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Gregory Cemetery
    • Findley Lake Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Findley Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Findley Lake Cemetery
    • Mayville Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)

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 Ripley had a population of 672 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • State Line
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Line have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
    • State Line is located in Chautauqua County
  • Lombard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lombard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lombard
    • Lombard is located in Chautauqua County
  • South Ripley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Ripley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ripley
    • South Ripley is located in Chautauqua County
  • North East
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North East have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North East
    • North East is located in Erie County (PA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,013 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North East <2>
  • Westfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
    • Westfield is located in Chautauqua County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,962 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westfield <2>
  • Summerdale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerdale
    • Summerdale is located in Chautauqua County
  • Mina
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mina
    • Mina is located in Chautauqua County
  • Sherman
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Findley Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Mayville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
    • Mayville is located in Chautauqua County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,565 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayville <2>
  • Moorheadville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moorheadville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorheadville
    • Moorheadville is located in Erie County (PA)
  • Moorhead
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moorhead have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorhead
    • Moorhead is located in Erie County (PA)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Wooglin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooglin
      • Wooglin is located in Chautauqua County
    • Hartfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartfield
      • Hartfield is located in Chautauqua County
    • Hornby
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hornby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornby
      • Hornby is located in Erie County (PA)

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ripley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Chautauqua County: www.co.chautauqua.ny.us/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Ripley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ripley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2669, Longitude: -79.7105    
<4>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.
<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 Ripley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024