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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 Wells Bridge (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 Wells Bridge. 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 Wells Bridge ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Wells Bridge: Wells Brg. (or less commonly used: Wells Brdg. or Wells Brdge.)
  • While the name of this community is Wells Bridge, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wells Bridge may originally have been Well's Bridge.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wells Bridge might be written as Well Bridge.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Wells Bridge is located in Otsego 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 Otsego County: Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery & Schoharie.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Wells Bridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wells Bridge.

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 Wells Bridge covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • East Sidney Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Sidney Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Sidney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blanchard Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blanchard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blanchard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Merithew Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Merithew Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Merithew Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Chestnut Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • The Knoll Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Knoll Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Knoll Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Congregational Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Ouleout Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ouleout Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ouleout Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Barnes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Presbyterian Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presbyterian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bundy Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bundy Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bundy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (370 more) ...
    • Carr Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carr Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carr Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Emmons Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emmons Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emmons Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Unadilla Center Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Unadilla Center Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Unadilla Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Wells Bridge had a population of 165 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • East Sidney
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Sidney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sidney
    • East Sidney is located in Delaware County
  • Unadilla
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unadilla have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unadilla
    • Unadilla is located in Otsego County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,039 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Unadilla <2>
  • Franklin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Franklin is located in Delaware County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 335 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <2>
  • Otego
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Unadilla Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unadilla Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unadilla Center
    • Unadilla Center is located in Otsego County
  • Youngs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Youngs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngs
    • Youngs is located in Delaware County
  • Sidney Center
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • South Unadilla
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Unadilla have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Unadilla
    • South Unadilla is located in Delaware County
  • Franklin Depot
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin Depot have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Depot
    • Franklin Depot is located in Delaware County
  • East Masonville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Masonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Masonville
    • East Masonville is located in Delaware County
  • Merrickville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Maple Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
    • Maple Grove is located in Otsego County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • East Guilford
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Sidney
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Sidney is located in Delaware County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,557 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <2>
    • North Franklin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Wells Bridge ...

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 81 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wells Bridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wells Bridge, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wells Bridge.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Wells Bridge:

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

The official website for Otsego County: www.otsegocounty.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>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 Wells Bridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wells Bridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wells Bridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3677, Longitude: -75.2453    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025