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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 Willard (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 Willard. 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.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Willard is located in Seneca 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 Seneca County: Cayuga, Ontario, Schuyler, Tompkins, Wayne & Yates.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Willard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willard.

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

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

  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.
  • Old Ovid Village Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Ovid Village Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Ovid Village Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Covert Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Covert Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Covert Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • City Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the City Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the City Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Lodi Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Lodi Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Lodi Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Raplee Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Raplee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Raplee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McNeal Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McNeal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McNeal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ovid Center Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ovid Center Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ovid Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Green Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Green Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Green Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hopeton Corners Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (454 more) ...
    • Angus Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Grove Mt. Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grove Mt. Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grove Mt. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Oak Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill 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 Willard had a population of 210 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Ovid
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Kendaia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kendaia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendaia
    • Kendaia is located in Seneca County
  • Dresden
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Lodi
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lodi have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
    • Lodi is located in Seneca County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 287 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lodi <1>
  • Romulus
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Angus
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Mays Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mays Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mays Mills
    • Mays Mills is located in Yates County
  • Seneca Mills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Himrod
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • East Varick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Varick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Varick
    • East Varick is located in Seneca County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to East Varick
    • From Willard to East Varick
  • Milo Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milo Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo Mills
    • Milo Mills is located in Yates County
  • Lodi Center
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lodi Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi Center
    • Lodi Center is located in Seneca County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Townsendville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Townsendville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsendville
      • Townsendville is located in Seneca County
    • Sheldrake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheldrake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheldrake
      • Sheldrake is located in Seneca County
    • Willets
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Willets. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willets
      • Willets is located in Cayuga County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Willets
      • From Willard to Willets

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

Newspapers Published in Willard ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willard, 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 Willard.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Willard:

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

The official website for Seneca County: www.co.seneca.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 Willard, 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- Willard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Willard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6821, Longitude: -76.8685    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025