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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 Taghkanic (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 Taghkanic. 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 Taghkanic ...

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 Taghkanic: W. Taghkanic

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 doctors and 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 Taghkanic is located in Columbia 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 Columbia County: Litchfield (CT), Berkshire (MA), Albany, Dutchess, Greene, Rensselaer & Ulster.

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

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

Cemeteries Near West Taghkanic ...

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

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

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

  • St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clermont Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clermont Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clermont Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Church of Nativity Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Church of Nativity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Church of Nativity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elizaville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Ancram Old Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancram Old Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancram Old Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ancram Union Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancram Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancram Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Copake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Copake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Copake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Buckley's Corner Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buckley's Corner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buckley's Corner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Livingston Reformed Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Livingston Reformed Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Livingston Reformed Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Niver Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Niver Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Niver Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Claverack Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (274 more) ...
    • Valley View Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley View Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Germantown Reformed Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Germantown Reformed Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Germantown Reformed Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Viewmont Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Viewmont Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Viewmont 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 Taghkanic had a population of 107 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Glenco Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Taghkanic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Snyderville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snyderville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snyderville
    • Snyderville is located in Columbia County
  • Suydam ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Suydam. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suydam
    • Suydam is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Suydam
    • From West Taghkanic to Suydam
  • Churchtown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Livingston
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Livingston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
    • Livingston is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Livingston <1>
  • Manorton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manorton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manorton
    • Manorton is located in Columbia County
  • Blue Store
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Store have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Store
    • Blue Store is located in Columbia County
  • Humphreysville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Humphreysville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humphreysville
    • Humphreysville is located in Columbia County
  • Hollowville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Burden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Burden. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burden
    • Burden is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Burden
    • From West Taghkanic to Burden
  • Clermont
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clermont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clermont
    • Clermont is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clermont <1>
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in West Taghkanic ...

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 142 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Taghkanic.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Taghkanic, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Taghkanic.

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 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 Taghkanic:

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

The official website for Columbia County: www.columbiacountyny.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>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.
<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 Taghkanic, 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 Taghkanic) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Taghkanic. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1234, Longitude: -73.7218    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025