RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Wyoming County >> Smiths Corner >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
New York

The Commemorative Quarter for New York





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 Smiths Corner (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 Smiths Corner. 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 Smiths Corner ...

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 Smiths Corner: Smiths Cor. (or less commonly used: Smiths Crn.)
  • While the name of this community is Smiths Corner, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Smiths Corner may originally have been Smith's Corner.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Smiths Corner might be written as Smith Corner.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Smiths Corner is located in Wyoming 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 Wyoming County: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Erie, Genesee & Livingston.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Smiths Corner ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smiths Corner.

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

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

  • Wethersfield Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wethersfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wethersfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sheppard Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sheppard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sheppard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lyonsburg Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lyonsburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lyonsburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hermitage Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hermitage Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hermitage Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Park Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Park Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Corners Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eagle Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eagle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eagle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quaker Settlement Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Settlement Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Settlement Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quaker Meeting House Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Meeting House Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Meeting House Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Java Pioneer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Java Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Java Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Silver Maple Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silver Maple Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silver Maple Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Nicholas Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Nicholas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Nicholas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (333 more) ...
    • Torrey Hill Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Torrey Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Torrey Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Mary's Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Gainesville Pioneer Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gainesville Pioneer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gainesville Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

While we didn't find Smiths Corner in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Smiths Corner.

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

  • Hermitage
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hermitage have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
    • Hermitage is located in Wyoming County
  • Bliss
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Hardys
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hardys have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardys
    • Hardys is located in Wyoming County
  • Wethersfield Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wethersfield Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wethersfield Springs
    • Wethersfield Springs is located in Wyoming County
  • North Java
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • East Arcade
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Arcade have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Arcade
    • East Arcade is located in Wyoming County
  • Eagle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
    • Eagle is located in Wyoming County
  • Gainesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gainesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gainesville
    • Gainesville is located in Wyoming County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gainesville <2>
  • Johnsonburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Pike
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lamont
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lamont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamont
    • Lamont is located in Wyoming County
  • Rock Glen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Glen
    • Rock Glen is located in Wyoming County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Smiths Corner ...

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 114 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smiths Corner.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smiths Corner, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smiths Corner.

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 helpful 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 Smiths Corner:

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

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>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.
<4>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.
<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 Smiths Corner, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smiths Corner) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Smiths Corner. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6317, Longitude: -78.2524    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025