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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 Smithville Flats (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 Smithville Flats. 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 Smithville Flats ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Smithville Flats: Smithville Flts.

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.

Smithville Flats is located in Chenango 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 Chenango County: Broome, Cortland, Delaware, Madison & Otsego.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Smithville Flats ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smithville Flats.

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

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

  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smithville Flats Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smithville Flats Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smithville Flats Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Horton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Horton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Horton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Knickerbocker Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Knickerbocker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Knickerbocker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Barnes Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barnes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barnes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Genegantslet Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Genegantslet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Genegantslet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hazard Corners Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Taft Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Morse Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morse Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morse Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Canal Street Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Canal Street Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Canal Street Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cowles Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cowles Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cowles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Towsley and Moore Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (437 more) ...
    • Jackson Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jackson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jackson Cemetery came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<6>
    • Miller Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miller Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ashcraft Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ashcraft Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ashcraft Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Smithville Flats had a population of 407 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Greene
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greene have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greene
    • Greene is located in Chenango County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,391 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greene <2>
  • Penelope
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Penelope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penelope
    • Penelope is located in Broome County
  • Triangle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Tyner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tyner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyner
    • Tyner is located in Chenango County
  • McDonough
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDonough have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonough
    • McDonough is located in Chenango County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McDonough <2>
  • Willet
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willet have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willet
    • Willet is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willet <2>
  • Upper Lisle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Itaska
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Itaska have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Itaska
    • Itaska is located in Broome County
  • Whitney Point
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Page Brook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Page Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page Brook
    • Page Brook is located in Chenango County
  • South Oxford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Oxford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Oxford
    • South Oxford is located in Chenango County
  • East McDonough
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East McDonough have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East McDonough
    • East McDonough is located in Chenango County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Lisle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • North Fenton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Fenton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fenton
      • North Fenton is located in Broome County
    • Coventry
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coventry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
      • Coventry is located in Chenango County

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

Newspapers Published in Smithville Flats ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smithville Flats.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smithville Flats, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smithville Flats.

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 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 Smithville Flats:

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

The official website for Chenango County: www.co.chenango.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>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 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Smithville Flats) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Smithville Flats. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3950, Longitude: -75.8081    
<6>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<7>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 Smithville Flats, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025