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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 Sparta (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 Sparta. 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 Sparta ...

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 Sparta: W. Sparta

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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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 Sparta is located in Livingston 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 Livingston County: Allegany, Genesee, Monroe, Ontario, Steuben & Wyoming.

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

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

Cemeteries Near West Sparta ...

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

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

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

  • Kysorville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kysorville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kysorville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oaklawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oaklawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Byersville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Byersville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Byersville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Sparta Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Sparta Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Sparta Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sparta Center Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sparta Center Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sparta Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rau Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rau Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rau Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Reed Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Reed's Corners Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Dutch Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dutch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dutch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Glenwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Craig State School Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Craig State School Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Craig State School Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (412 more) ...
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • West View Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Clark Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 in 1895, West Sparta had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Groveland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Byersville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Byersville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byersville
    • Byersville is located in Livingston County
  • Sonyea
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sonyea have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonyea
    • Sonyea is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sonyea <1>
  • Tuscarora
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tuscarora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscarora
    • Tuscarora is located in Livingston County
  • Dansville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dansville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dansville
    • Dansville is located in Livingston County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,334 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dansville <1>
  • Ossian
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ossian have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ossian
    • Ossian is located in Livingston County
  • Websters Crossing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • East Groveland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
    • Ridge is located in Livingston County
  • Brooks Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooks Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks Grove
    • Brooks Grove is located in Livingston County
  • Springwater
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Shaker Crossing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Crossing
    • Shaker Crossing is located in Livingston County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in West Sparta ...

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 156 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Sparta.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Sparta, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Sparta.

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 Sparta:

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

The official website for Livingston County: www.co.livingston.state.ny.us/

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 Sparta, 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 Sparta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Sparta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6271, Longitude: -77.7726       In this case, the coordinates for West Sparta have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025