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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 Union Springs (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 Union Springs. 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 Union Springs ...

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 Union Springs: Union Spgs. (or less commonly used: Union Spngs. or Union Sprngs.)

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Union Springs is located in Cayuga 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 Cayuga County: Cortland, Onondaga, Oswego, Seneca, Tompkins & Wayne.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Union Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Union Springs.

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

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

  • Chestnut Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chestnut Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chestnut Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Michaels RC Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michaels RC Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michaels RC Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Quaker Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Quaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richardson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richardson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richardson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Quaker Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Quaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lamb Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lamb Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lamb Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Canoga Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Red Jacket Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Jacket Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Jacket Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Quaker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Quaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gifford Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gifford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gifford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (499 more) ...
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Manchester Family Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Manchester Family Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Manchester Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Rural Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rural Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Union Springs had a population of 1,066 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Union Springs had a population of 1,143 people.

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

  • Cayuga Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cayuga Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga Junction
    • Cayuga Junction is located in Cayuga County
  • Cross Roads
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Oakwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oakwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
    • Oakwood is located in Cayuga County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Oakwood
    • From Union Springs to Oakwood
  • Canoga
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Levanna
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Levanna have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levanna
    • Levanna is located in Cayuga County
  • Mapleton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mapleton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleton
    • Mapleton is located in Cayuga County
  • Cayuga
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cayuga have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga
    • Cayuga is located in Cayuga County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cayuga <3>
  • Scipioville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Fayette
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayette have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Fayette is located in Seneca County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fayette <3>
  • East Varick
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Aurora
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Merrifield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrifield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrifield
    • Merrifield is located in Cayuga County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Union Springs ...

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 106 newspapers that have been published in the area around Union Springs.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Union Springs. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Union Springs and those printed in the larger area surrounding Union Springs.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6> of Union Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Union Springs:

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

The official website for Cayuga County: www.co.cayuga.ny.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Union Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Union Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Union Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8422, Longitude: -76.6919    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025