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 Williamstown (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 Williamstown. 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 Williamstown ...
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.
Another variation: Williams Town.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Williamstown. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Williamstown.
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 and doctors 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.
Williamstown is located in Oswego 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 Oswego County: Cayuga, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida & Onondaga.
Below are the counties that are near Williamstown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Williamstown:
- Oswego County (The home county of Williamstown)
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamstown, with the one closest to Williamstown listed first.
- Kasoag
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Kasoag is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kasoag
- West Amboy
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- West Amboy is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Amboy
- Redfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Albion Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Albion Center is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion Center
- Altmar
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Dugway
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Dugway is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugway
- Chateaugay
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Chateaugay is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chateaugay
- Gayville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Gayville is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gayville
- Orwell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Nicholsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Nicholsville is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholsville
- Parish
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Cleveland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamstown, with the one closest to Williamstown listed first.
- Mannsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Worth Center
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Worth Center is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth Center
- Lorraine
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Worth
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Worth is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth
- Ellisburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Woodville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Woodville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
- Adams
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Belleville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson Park
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson Park is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Park
- Adams Center
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- East Rodman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
- Lyon Corner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Lyon Corner is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Corner
- Lewis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamstown, with the one closest to Williamstown listed first.
- Osceola
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Osceola is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
- Leisher Mill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Leisher Mill is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisher Mill
- Michigan Mills
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Michigan Mills is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Mills
- West Leyden
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Mohawk Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Mohawk Hill is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk Hill
- Parkers
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Parkers is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkers
- Constableville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Rector
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Rector is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rector
- New Boston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- New Boston is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Boston
- Barnes Corners
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Barnes Corners is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes Corners
- Turin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Collinsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Collinsville is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinsville
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamstown, with the one closest to Williamstown listed first.
- Bridgeport
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Whitelaw
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Whitelaw is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitelaw
- Oneida Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Oneida Valley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida Valley
- Bolivar
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Bolivar is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolivar
- Canastota
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Sullivan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Sullivan is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
- Wampsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Oneida
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Chittenango
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Cottons
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Cottons is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottons
- Clockville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Kenwood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Kenwood is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenwood
- Oneida County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamstown, with the one closest to Williamstown listed first.
- Camden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Elpis
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Elpis is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elpis
- Jewell
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Jewell is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
- McConnellsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- McConnellsville is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McConnellsville
- Blossvale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- North Bay
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- North Bay is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
- Vienna
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Vienna is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
- Leisure Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Leisure Village is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure Village
- Taberg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Point Rock
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Point Rock is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Rock
- Sylvan Beach
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Brookfield
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Brookfield is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
- Onondaga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williamstown, with the one closest to Williamstown listed first.
- Brewerton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Clay
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Tall Pines Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Tall Pines Village is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Pines Village
- Euclid
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Euclid is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
- North Syracuse
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- North Syracuse is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Syracuse
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,595 people
- Kirkville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Minoa
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Mycenae
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Mycenae is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mycenae
- Mattydale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- East Syracuse
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- East Syracuse is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Syracuse
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,907 people
- Lyncourt
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lyncourt is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyncourt
- De Witt
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- De Witt is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Witt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,962 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Williamstown, see our County-by-County Page for Williamstown.
Cemeteries Near Williamstown ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williamstown.
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 Williamstown - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Williamstown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Williamstown, with the one closest to Williamstown listed first.
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Fairview Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Cemetery
- The Fairview Cemetery has also been known as:
- Williamstown Cemetery
- Williamstown Fairview Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #64502 <2>
- Butler Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Kinney Family Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Madison Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Amboy Center Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Happy Valley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Getman Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- West Amboy Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- White Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hall Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Temple Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (285 more) ...
- Johnson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Old Dutch Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Davis Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Williamstown had a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Williamstown, with the one closest to Williamstown listed first.
- Kasoag
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Kasoag is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kasoag
- Amboy Center
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Amboy Center is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amboy Center
- West Amboy
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- West Amboy is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Amboy
- Ricard
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Ricard is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricard
- North Constantia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- North Constantia is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Constantia
- Florence
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Florence is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Redfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Camden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Osceola
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Osceola is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
- Dugway
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Dugway is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugway
- Gayville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Gayville is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gayville
- Constantia Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Constantia Center is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Constantia Center
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Elpis
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Elpis is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elpis
- Little France
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Little France is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little France
- Orwell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Williamstown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Williamstown.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Williamstown ...
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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williamstown.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Williamstown. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Williamstown and those printed in the larger area surrounding Williamstown.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<4> of Williamstown.
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 helpful 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 Williamstown:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Oswego County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Jefferson County
- Lewis County
- Madison County
- Oneida County
- Onondaga 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 Williamstown, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Williamstown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |