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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 Clarksville (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 Clarksville. 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 Clarksville ...

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 Clarksville: W. Clarksville

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 southwest 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 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 west 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 Clarksville is located in Allegany 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 Allegany County: Cattaraugus, Livingston, Steuben, Wyoming, McKean (PA) & Potter (PA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near West Clarksville ...

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

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

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

  • Clarksville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clarksville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clarksville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Genesee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Genesee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Genesee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wheeler Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wheeler Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wheeler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richburg Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cuba Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Little Genesee Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Genesee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Genesee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Well Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Well Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Well Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Lawn Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Lawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Utopia Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Utopia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Utopia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nile Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nile Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nile Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (195 more) ...

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 in 1895, West Clarksville had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Obi
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Obi have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obi
    • Obi is located in Allegany County
  • Haskell Flats
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haskell Flats have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haskell Flats
    • Haskell Flats is located in Cattaraugus County
  • Bolivar
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cuba
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuba have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
    • Cuba is located in Allegany County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,460 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cuba <1>
  • Kossuth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Nile
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nile have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nile
    • Nile is located in Allegany County
  • North Cuba
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Cuba have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cuba
    • North Cuba is located in Allegany County
  • Portville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portville
    • Portville is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 941 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Portville <1>
  • Little Genesee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Inavale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inavale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inavale
    • Inavale is located in Allegany County
  • Friendship
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
    • Friendship is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Friendship <1>
  • Hinsdale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hinsdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinsdale
    • Hinsdale is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hinsdale <1>
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Westons Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westons Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westons Mills
      • Westons Mills is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westons Mills <1>
    • Ceres
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ceres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceres
      • Ceres is located in Allegany County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ceres <1>
    • Bowler
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in West Clarksville ...

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 134 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Clarksville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Clarksville, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Clarksville.

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 West Clarksville:

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

The official website for Allegany County: www.alleganyco.com/

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

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 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>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.
<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 Clarksville, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Clarksville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Clarksville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1280, Longitude: -78.2425    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025