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 Van Etten (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 Van Etten. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Van Etten is located in Chemung 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 Chemung County: Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Bradford (PA) & Tioga (PA).
Below are the counties that are near Van Etten. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Van Etten:
- Chemung County (The home county of Van Etten)
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Erin
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Owens Mills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Owens Mills is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owens Mills
- Sullivanville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Sullivanville is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivanville
- Chemung
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Horseheads
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Elmira
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Elmira Heights
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Pioneer Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Pioneer Village is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Village
- Wellsburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Millport
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Pine Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Southport
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Southport is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southport
- Broome County
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Maine
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Maine is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
- Endicott
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Vestal
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Endwell
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Glen Aubrey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Manningville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Manningville is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manningville
- Willow Point
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Willow Point is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Point
- Lisle
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- New Ireland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- New Ireland is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Ireland
- West Chenango
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- West Chenango is located in Broome County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chenango
- Killawog
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cayuga County
- Atwaters
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Atwaters is located in Cayuga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwaters
- Cortland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Harford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Harford Mills
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Harford Mills is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harford Mills
- Lapeer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lapeer is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapeer
- Schuyler County
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Alpine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Catharine
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Catharine is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catharine
- Cayutaville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Cayutaville is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayutaville
- Odessa
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Montour Falls
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Mecklenburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Moreland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Moreland is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
- Wedgewood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wedgewood is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wedgewood
- Bennettsburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bennettsburg is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennettsburg
- Watkins Glen
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Watkins Glen is located in Schuyler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watkins Glen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,851 people
- Former names for Watkins Glen:
- Jefferson
- Salubria
- Watkins
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watkins Glen <1>
- Burdett
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Beaver Dams
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Seneca County
- Interlaken
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Interlaken is located in Seneca County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
- Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
- Former names for Interlaken:
- Farmer Village
- Farmer
- Farmerville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Interlaken <1>
- Steuben County
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Corning
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Hornby
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Hornby is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornby
- South Corning
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- South Corning is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Corning
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,080 people
- Caton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Caton is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caton
- Painted Post
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Riverside
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Riverside is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
- East Campbell
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- East Campbell is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Campbell
- Gang Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Gang Mills is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gang Mills
- Bradford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Coopers Plains
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- South Bradford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- South Bradford is located in Steuben County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bradford
- Tioga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Spencer
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- North Spencer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- North Spencer is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Spencer
- West Candor
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- West Candor is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Candor
- Lockwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Candor
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Barton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hamar Estates
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Hamar Estates is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamar Estates
- Waverly
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Smithboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hoopers Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hoopers Valley is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoopers Valley
- Lounsberry
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lounsberry is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lounsberry
- Nichols
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Tompkins County
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- West Danby
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- West Danby is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Danby
- Danby
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Danby is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danby
- Newfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- White Church
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- White Church is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Church
- Besemer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Besemer is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Besemer
- South Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- South Hill is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hill
- Caroline Center
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Caroline Center is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroline Center
- East Ithaca
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- East Ithaca is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ithaca
- Ithaca
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Slaterville Springs
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cayuga Heights
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Cayuga Heights is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,526 people
- Forest Home
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Forest Home is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Home
- Yates County
- Glenora
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Glenora is located in Yates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenora
- Bradford County (PA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- South Waverly
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- South Waverly is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Waverly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,006 people
- Sayre
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Sayre is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayre
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,338 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sayre <1>
- Athens
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Fassett
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Fassett is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fassett
- Bentley Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bentley Creek is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley Creek
- Middletown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Middletown is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
- Vawter
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Vawter is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vawter
- Gillett
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Gillett is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillett
- Bumpville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bumpville is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bumpville
- Big Pond
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Big Pond is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Pond
- East Smithfield
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- East Smithfield is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Smithfield
- Berrytown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Berrytown is located in Bradford County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrytown
- Susquehanna County (PA)
- Little Meadows
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Tioga County (PA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Millerton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Millerton is located in Tioga County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
- Roseville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Roseville is located in Tioga County (PA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Van Etten, see our County-by-County Page for Van Etten.
Cemeteries Near Van Etten ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Van Etten.
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 Van Etten - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Van Etten covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Westbrook Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Canfield Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jenkins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rumsey - Getman Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Old Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Baptist Corners Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- North Spencer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Swartwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Ennis Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Elston Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (393 more) ...
- Ferris Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Larue Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Hicks Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Van Etten had railroad service and no post office. In 2019, Van Etten had a population of 494 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Van Etten, with the one closest to Van Etten listed first.
- Spencer
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Swartwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Swartwood is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swartwood
- North Spencer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- North Spencer is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Spencer
- Reniff
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Reniff is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reniff
- Erin
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Hicks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hicks is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
- North Barton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Barton is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Barton
- Lockwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Halsey Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Halsey Valley is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halsey Valley
- West Candor
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- West Candor is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Candor
- West Danby
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- West Danby is located in Tompkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Danby
- Breesport
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- North Chemung
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- North Chemung is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Chemung
- Owens Mills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Owens Mills is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owens Mills
- Straits Corners
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Straits Corners is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straits Corners
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Van Etten. See our List of 1890's Communities around Van Etten.
Newspapers Published in Van Etten ...
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 Van Etten.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Van Etten, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Van Etten.
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 Van Etten:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Chemung County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Broome County
- Cayuga County
- Cortland County
- Schuyler County
- Seneca County
- Steuben County
- Tioga County
- Tompkins County
- Yates County
- Bradford County
- Susquehanna County
- Tioga County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
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> | 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 Van Etten, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Van Etten) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |