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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 Soft Maple (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 Soft Maple. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Soft Maple is located in Lewis 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 Lewis County: Herkimer, Jefferson, Oneida, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Lewis County     (The home county of Soft Maple)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soft Maple, with the one closest to Soft Maple listed first.
    • Number Four
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Number Four is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Number Four
    • Belfort
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Belfort is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfort
    • Indian River
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian River is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River
    • Jerden Falls
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jerden Falls is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerden Falls
    • Croghan
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Crystal Dale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Crystal Dale is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Dale
    • Petries Corners
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Petries Corners is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petries Corners
    • Forest City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Forest City is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
    • Naumburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Naumburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
    • Watson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Watson is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
    • Castorland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • East Martinsburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • East Martinsburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Martinsburg
    • Briggs Corner
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Briggs Corner is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs Corner
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soft Maple, with the one closest to Soft Maple listed first.
    • Inlet
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Raquette Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Herkimer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soft Maple, with the one closest to Soft Maple listed first.
    • Beaver River
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Thendara
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Thendara is located in Herkimer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thendara
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soft Maple, with the one closest to Soft Maple listed first.
    • Natural Bridge
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Carthage
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • West Carthage
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • West Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Carthage
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
    • Herrings
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Herrings is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrings
      • Estimated population in 2017: 90 people
    • Deferiet
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Great Bend
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Sterlingville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
    • Antwerp
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Philadelphia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Black River
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Calcium
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • East Rodman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
    • Evans Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Oneida County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soft Maple, with the one closest to Soft Maple listed first.
    • Woodgate
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Boonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Saint Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Soft Maple, with the one closest to Soft Maple listed first.
    • Jayville ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jayville is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jayville
    • Coffins Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Coffins Mills is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffins Mills
    • Oswegatchie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Star Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Lower Oswegatchie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lower Oswegatchie is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Oswegatchie
    • Wanakena
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • South Edwards
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • South Edwards is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Edwards
    • Newton Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Talcville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Talcville is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talcville
    • Edwards
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Edwards is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
      • Estimated population in 2012: 433 people
    • Cranberry Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Somerville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Somerville is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
    • Degrasse
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Degrasse is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Degrasse

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

Cemeteries Near Soft Maple ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Soft Maple.

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 Soft Maple - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 Soft Maple in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Soft Maple.

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

  • Number Four
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Number Four is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Number Four
  • Belfort
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Belfort is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfort
  • Kirschnerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kirschnerville is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirschnerville
  • Croghan
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Jerden Falls
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jerden Falls is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerden Falls
  • Indian River
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian River is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River
  • Crystal Dale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Crystal Dale is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Dale
  • Beaver Falls
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Petries Corners
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Petries Corners is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petries Corners
  • New Bremen
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • New Bremen is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bremen
  • Naumburg
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Naumburg is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
  • Castorland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Watson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Watson is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
    • Bushes Landing
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Bushes Landing is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushes Landing
    • Lowville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Soft Maple ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Soft Maple.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Soft Maple, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Soft Maple.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Soft Maple:

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 Soft Maple, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Soft Maple) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.