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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 West Amboy (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 West Amboy. 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 West Amboy ...

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 West Amboy: W. Amboy

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 doctors 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.

West Amboy is located in Oswego 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 Oswego County: Cayuga, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida & Onondaga.

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

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

Cemeteries Near West Amboy ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Amboy.

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 West Amboy covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • West Amboy Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Amboy Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Amboy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Getman Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Getman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Getman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Amboy Center Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Amboy Center Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Amboy Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Butler Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butler Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Dutch Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Dutch Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Dutch Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hall Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hall Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hall Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kinney Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kinney Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kinney Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Happy Valley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Happy Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Happy Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Settlement Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Settlement Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Settlement Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • White Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (302 more) ...
    • Madison Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Madison Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Madison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Wright Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wright Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wright Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Little France Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little France Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little France 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that West Amboy had a population of 210 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • North Constantia
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Constantia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Constantia
    • North Constantia is located in Oswego County
  • Amboy Center
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amboy Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amboy Center
    • Amboy Center is located in Oswego County
  • Gayville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Williamstown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamstown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
    • Williamstown is located in Oswego County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Williamstown <2>
  • Little France
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little France have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little France
    • Little France is located in Oswego County
  • Kasoag
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kasoag have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kasoag
    • Kasoag is located in Oswego County
  • Mallory
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Constantia Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Constantia Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Constantia Center
    • Constantia Center is located in Oswego County
  • Dugway
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dugway. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugway
    • Dugway is located in Oswego County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Dugway
    • From West Amboy to Dugway
  • Parish
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Morse
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morse have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morse
    • Morse is located in Oswego County
  • West Monroe
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ricard
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ricard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricard
      • Ricard is located in Oswego County
    • Hastings
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Hastings Center
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hastings Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings Center
      • Hastings Center is located in Oswego County

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

Newspapers Published in West Amboy ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Amboy.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Amboy, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Amboy.

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 either 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 West Amboy:

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

The official website for Oswego County: www.co.oswego.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>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>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 West Amboy, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- West Amboy) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Amboy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3835, Longitude: -75.9836       In this case, the coordinates for West Amboy have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025