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 Carthage (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 Carthage. 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 Carthage ...
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 occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for West Carthage: W. Carthage
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 and 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 Carthage is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Lewis, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.
Below are the counties that are near West Carthage. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Carthage:
- Jefferson County (The home county of West Carthage)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Carthage, with the one closest to West Carthage listed first.
- Carthage
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Herrings
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Herrings is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrings
- Estimated population in 2017: 90 people
- Deferiet
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Great Bend
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sterlingville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
- Natural Bridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Black River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Calcium
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Evans Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Philadelphia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- East Rodman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
- Watertown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Lewis County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Carthage, with the one closest to West Carthage listed first.
- Denmark
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Denmark is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
- Copenhagen
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Castorland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Forest City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Forest City is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- Briggs Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Briggs Corner is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs Corner
- Naumburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Naumburg is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
- Harrisburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Harrisburg is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- Indian River
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Indian River is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River
- Croghan
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- New Boston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- New Boston is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Boston
- Belfort
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Belfort is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfort
- Barnes Corners
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Barnes Corners is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes Corners
- Oswego County
- Smartville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Smartville is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smartville
- Saint Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Carthage, with the one closest to West Carthage listed first.
- Somerville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Somerville is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Wegatchie
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Wegatchie is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegatchie
- Jayville ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jayville is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jayville
- Gouverneur
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Elmdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Elmdale is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
- Talcville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Talcville is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talcville
- South Edwards
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- South Edwards is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Edwards
- Coffins Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Coffins Mills is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffins Mills
- Edwards
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Edwards is located in Saint Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
- Estimated population in 2012: 433 people
- Oswegatchie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Carthage, see our County-by-County Page for West Carthage.
Cemeteries Near West Carthage ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Carthage.
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 West Carthage - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Carthage covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Carthage, with the one closest to West Carthage listed first.
- St. James Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Fairview Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Swinburne Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hillside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Plank Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bent Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sunnyside Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fairview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- F W Woolworth Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cotes Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- South Champion Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Hillside Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (145 more) ...
- Union Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Gallup Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Natural Bridge Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
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.<3>
While we didn't find West Carthage in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Carthage.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Carthage, with the one closest to West Carthage listed first.
- Carthage
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Champion
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Champion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion
- Deer River
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Denmark
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Denmark is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
- Copenhagen
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Great Bend
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Castorland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Felts Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Naumburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Naumburg is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
- North Wilna
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- North Wilna is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wilna
- Harrisburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Harrisburg is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- Sterlingville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Natural Bridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Black River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Beaver Falls
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Carthage. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Carthage.
Newspapers Published in West Carthage ...
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 108 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Carthage.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Carthage, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Carthage.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 West Carthage:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Lewis County
- Oswego County
- Saint Lawrence 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> | 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> | 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 Carthage, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- West Carthage) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |