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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 Southwood (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 Southwood. 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.

Southwood is located in Onondaga 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 Onondaga County: Cayuga, Cortland, Madison & Oswego.

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

  • Onondaga County     (The home county of Southwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwood, with the one closest to Southwood listed first.
    • Jamesville
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Nedrow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • De Witt
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • De Witt is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Witt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,962 people
    • Sentinel Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Sentinel Heights is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel Heights
    • Eastwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Eastwood is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
    • Lyndon
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lyndon is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndon
    • Syracuse
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Indian Village is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • East Syracuse
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • East Syracuse is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Syracuse
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,907 people
    • Lyncourt
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Lyncourt is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyncourt
    • Fayetteville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • LaFayette
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • LaFayette is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaFayette
      • LaFayette has also been known as:
      • LaFayette Square
      • Te-Ka-Wis-To-Ta
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for LaFayette <1>
  • Cayuga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwood, with the one closest to Southwood listed first.
    • New Hope
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • New Hope is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
    • Niles
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Niles is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niles
    • Kelloggsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Kelloggsville is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelloggsville
    • Omro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Omro is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omro
    • Sempronius
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sempronius is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sempronius
    • Sennett
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Austin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Austin is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
    • Dresserville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Dresserville is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresserville
    • Melrose Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Melrose Park is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose Park
    • Auburn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Throop
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Throop is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Throop
    • Weedsport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Chenango County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwood, with the one closest to Southwood listed first.
    • Otselic Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Otselic Center is located in Chenango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic Center
    • Otselic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Otselic is located in Chenango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic
    • South Otselic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cortland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwood, with the one closest to Southwood listed first.
    • Cummings Crossing
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Cummings Crossing is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings Crossing
    • Preble
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • East Scott
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • East Scott is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Scott
    • Scott
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Scott is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott
    • Slab City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Slab City is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
    • Crains Mills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Crains Mills is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crains Mills
    • Little York
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Little York is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little York
    • Truxton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Pratt Corners
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Pratt Corners is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Corners
    • East Homer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • East Homer is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Homer
    • East River
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • East River is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River
    • Homer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Homer is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,080 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homer <1>
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwood, with the one closest to Southwood listed first.
    • Chittenango
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Bolivar
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bolivar is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolivar
    • Cazenovia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Chittenango Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Chittenango Falls is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chittenango Falls
    • Sullivan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Sullivan is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
    • Sulphur Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Sulphur Springs is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
      • Sulphur Springs has also been known as:
      • Chittenango Springs
    • Bridgeport
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Rippleton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Rippleton is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rippleton
    • Bingley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Bingley is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingley
    • Union
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Union is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Cottons
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Cottons is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottons
    • New Woodstock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • New Woodstock is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Woodstock
  • Oneida County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwood, with the one closest to Southwood listed first.
    • Jewell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jewell is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
    • Sylvan Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Oneida Castle
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Oneida Castle is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida Castle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 603 people
    • Elpis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Elpis is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elpis
    • North Bay
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • North Bay is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
    • Sconondoa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Sconondoa is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sconondoa
    • Sherrill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Vienna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Vienna is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
    • Cagwin Corners
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Cagwin Corners is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cagwin Corners
    • Agnes Corners
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Agnes Corners is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnes Corners
    • McConnellsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • McConnellsville is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McConnellsville
    • Camden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Oswego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southwood, with the one closest to Southwood listed first.
    • Constantia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Sand Ridge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Sand Ridge is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
    • Phoenix
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Caughdenoy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Caughdenoy is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caughdenoy
    • West Monroe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • West Monroe is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Monroe
    • Central Square
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Nicholsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Nicholsville is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholsville
    • Cleveland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Gayville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Gayville is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gayville
    • Hinmansville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hinmansville is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinmansville
    • Pennellville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mallory
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Tompkins County
    • Groton City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Groton City is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton City

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

Cemeteries Near Southwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Southwood.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Southwood, with the one closest to Southwood 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.<4>

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

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

  • Jamesville
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Onondaga Castle
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Onondaga Castle is located in Onondaga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onondaga Castle
  • De Witt
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • De Witt is located in Onondaga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Witt
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,962 people
  • Syracuse
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Eastwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Eastwood is located in Onondaga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
  • East Syracuse
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • East Syracuse is located in Onondaga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Syracuse
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,907 people
  • South Onondaga
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • South Onondaga is located in Onondaga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Onondaga
  • LaFayette
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • LaFayette is located in Onondaga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaFayette
    • LaFayette has also been known as:
    • LaFayette Square
    • Te-Ka-Wis-To-Ta
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for LaFayette <1>
  • Manlius
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Fayetteville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Solvay
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedarvale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cedarvale is located in Onondaga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarvale
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Cardiff
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Cardiff is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
    • Watervale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Watervale is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watervale
    • Collamer
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Collamer is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collamer

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

Newspapers Published in Southwood ...

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 219 newspapers that have been published in the area around Southwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Southwood, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Southwood.

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 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 Southwood:

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