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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 Woods Mill (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 Woods Mill. 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 Woods Mill ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Woods Mill: Woods Ml. (or less commonly used: Woods Mll.)
  • While the name of this community is Woods Mill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Woods Mill may originally have been Wood's Mill.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Woods Mill might be written as Wood Mill.

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 doctors and 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.

Woods Mill is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Lewis, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Jefferson County     (The home county of Woods Mill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woods Mill, with the one closest to Woods Mill listed first.
    • Antwerp
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Natural Bridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sterlingville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sterlingville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
      • Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
    • Philadelphia
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Philadelphia have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
      • Philadelphia is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,101 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Philadelphia <2>
    • Deferiet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deferiet have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deferiet
      • Deferiet is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deferiet <2>
    • Herrings
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Herrings have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrings
      • Herrings is located in Jefferson County
      • Estimated population in 2017: 90 people
    • Carthage
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
      • Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,256 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <2>
    • Great Bend
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • West Carthage
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Carthage
      • West Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
    • Oxbow
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Evans Mills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Theresa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Theresa
      • Theresa is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woods Mill, with the one closest to Woods Mill listed first.
    • Lake Bonaparte
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bonaparte
      • Lake Bonaparte is located in Lewis County
    • Harrisville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Forest City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
      • Forest City is located in Lewis County
    • Indian River
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Indian River. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River
      • Indian River is located in Lewis County
    • Jerden Falls
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jerden Falls. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerden Falls
      • Jerden Falls is located in Lewis County
    • Denmark
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Denmark. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
      • Denmark is located in Lewis County
    • Naumburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Naumburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
      • Naumburg is located in Lewis County
    • Castorland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castorland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castorland
      • Castorland is located in Lewis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Castorland <2>
    • Copenhagen
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copenhagen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copenhagen
      • Copenhagen is located in Lewis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 767 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Copenhagen <2>
    • Briggs Corner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs Corner
      • Briggs Corner is located in Lewis County
    • Belfort
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belfort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfort
      • Belfort is located in Lewis County
    • Croghan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Croghan have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croghan
      • Croghan is located in Lewis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Croghan <2>
  • Saint Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woods Mill, with the one closest to Woods Mill listed first.
    • Somerville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Somerville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
      • Somerville is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Wegatchie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegatchie
      • Wegatchie is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Gouverneur
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Elmdale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
      • Elmdale is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Talcville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Talcville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talcville
      • Talcville is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jayville ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jayville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jayville
      • Jayville is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • South Edwards
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Edwards
      • South Edwards is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Edwards
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
      • Edwards is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Estimated population in 2012: 433 people
    • Richville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Schermerhorn Landing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schermerhorn Landing
      • Schermerhorn Landing is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Hammond
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hammond have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammond
      • Hammond is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hammond <2>
    • Coffins Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffins Mills
      • Coffins Mills is located in Saint Lawrence County

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

Cemeteries Near Woods Mill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Woods Mill.

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

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

  • Natural Bridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Natural Bridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Natural Bridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quaker Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blanchard Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sandy Hollow Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sandy Hollow Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sandy Hollow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sheepfold Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sheepfold Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sheepfold Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • F W Woolworth Memorial Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the F W Woolworth Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the F W Woolworth Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. James Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oswegatchie Corners Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oswegatchie Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oswegatchie Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (139 more) ...
    • West Fowler Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Fowler Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Fowler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Vrooman Hill Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Kelsey Bridge Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kelsey Bridge Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kelsey Bridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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.<7>

While we didn't find Woods Mill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Woods Mill.

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

  • North Wilna
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Wilna have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wilna
    • North Wilna is located in Jefferson County
  • Sterlingville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sterlingville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
    • Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
  • Antwerp
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Natural Bridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Philadelphia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Philadelphia have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
    • Philadelphia is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,101 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Philadelphia <2>
  • Great Bend
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Carthage
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
    • Carthage is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,256 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <2>
  • Spragueville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spragueville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spragueville
    • Spragueville is located in Jefferson County
  • Lake Bonaparte
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bonaparte
    • Lake Bonaparte is located in Lewis County
  • Evans Mills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Oxbow
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Felts Mills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Felts Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Felts Mills
    • Felts Mills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Felts Mills <2>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Somerville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Somerville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
      • Somerville is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Champion
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Champion have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion
      • Champion is located in Jefferson County
    • Wegatchie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegatchie
      • Wegatchie is located in Saint Lawrence County

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

Newspapers Published in Woods Mill ...

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 124 newspapers that have been published in the area around Woods Mill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Woods Mill, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Woods Mill.

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 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 Woods Mill:

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

The official website for Jefferson County: www.co.jefferson.ny.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 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.
<5>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.
<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 from Point A (ie- Woods Mill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Woods Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1215, Longitude: -75.5783       In this case, the coordinates for Woods Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>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 Woods Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025