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 Chatham (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 Chatham. 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 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.
Chatham is located in Medina County.
To see how the shape of Ohio's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Medina County: Ashland, Cuyahoga, Lorain, Summit & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Chatham. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Chatham:
- Medina County (The home county of Chatham)
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Risley ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Risley is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Risley
- Pawnee
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pawnee is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
- River Corners
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- River Corners is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Corners
- Litchfield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lodi
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Friendsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Friendsville is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendsville
- Spencer
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Briarwood Beach ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Briarwood Beach is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood Beach
- Chippewa Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Chippewa Lake is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chippewa Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
- Former name for Chippewa Lake:
- Chippewa-on-the-Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chippewa Lake <1>
- Westfield Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Westfield Center is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield Center
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,188 people
- Homer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Homer is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
- Gloria Glens Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Gloria Glens Park is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gloria Glens Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 449 people
- Medina
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ashland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Albion
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Albion is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Polk
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Polk is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polk
- Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
- Redhaw
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Redhaw is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redhaw
- Nova
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Rowsburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Rowsburg is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowsburg
- Ruggles
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Ruggles is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruggles
- Bailey Lakes
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bailey Lakes is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
- Savannah
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ashland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Jeromesville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hayesville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hayesville is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 459 people
- Mifflin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mifflin is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mifflin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
- McKay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- McKay is located in Ashland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKay
- Champaign County
- Rochester
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Rochester is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Cuyahoga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Bennetts Corners
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bennetts Corners is located in Cuyahoga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennetts Corners
- Strongsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Binola
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Binola is located in Cuyahoga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binola
- Olmsted Falls
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Berea
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- North Royalton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Middleburg Heights
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- North Olmsted
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Brook Park
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Parma Heights
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Broadview Heights
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Fairview Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Brecksville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Erie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Birmingham
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Florence
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Florence is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Berlin Heights
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Berlinville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Berlinville is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlinville
- Shinrock
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Shinrock is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinrock
- Huron County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- White Fox
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- White Fox is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Fox
- New London
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- West Clarksfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- West Clarksfield is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Clarksfield
- Wakeman
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fitchville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Fitchville is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchville
- Hartland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Hartland is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
- Hartland Station
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Hartland Station is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland Station
- Collins
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Collins is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- East Townsend
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- East Townsend is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Townsend
- Greenwich
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Olena
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Olena is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olena
- Delphi
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Delphi is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphi
- North Fairfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- North Fairfield is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fairfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 531 people
- Lorain County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Belden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Belden is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belden
- Pheasant Run Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pheasant Run Village is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Run Village
- Lagrange
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Huntington
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Huntington is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntington
- Wellington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Grafton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Nickelplate ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Nickelplate is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nickelplate
- Eaton Estates
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Eaton Estates is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaton Estates
- Rochester
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Rochester is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
- Brighton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Brighton is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
- Oberlin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fields
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Fields is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields
- Kipton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Kipton is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kipton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
- Richland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Olivesburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Olivesburg is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivesburg
- Shenandoah
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Shenandoah is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shenandoah
- Ganges
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ganges is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ganges
- Stark County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Canal Fulton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- North Lawrence
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- East Greenville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Greenville is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenville
- Sippo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sippo is located in Stark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sippo
- Forty Corners Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Summit County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Paxton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Paxton is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paxton
- Pigeon Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Pigeon Creek is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon Creek
- Copley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Bath Center
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bath Center is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath Center
- Montrose
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Montrose is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
- Norton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bath
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Fairlawn
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Richfield
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Barberton
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Clinton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- New Franklin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- New Franklin is located in Summit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Franklin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,101 people
- Akron
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Burbank
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Aukerman
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Aukerman is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aukerman
- West Salem
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Creston
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Congress
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Congress is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congress
- Population from the 2020 Census: 177 people
- Sterling
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lattasburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Lattasburg is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lattasburg
- Rittman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Devil Town
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Devil Town is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devil Town
- New Pittsburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- New Pittsburg is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Pittsburg
- Smithville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Boys Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Boys Village is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boys Village
- Doylestown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Chatham, see our County-by-County Page for Chatham.
Cemeteries Near Chatham ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chatham.
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 Chatham - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Chatham covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Chatham Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Black River Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pawnee Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Waltz Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Homer Reformed Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer Reformed Church Cemetery
- The Homer Reformed Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- East Homerville Reformed Cemetery
- East Homerville Reformed Church Cemetery
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Old Lodi Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lafayette Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Shaw Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Litchfield Center Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Zion Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Lutheran Cemetery
- The Zion Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
- Homer Lutheran Cemetery
- New Horizons Church Cemetery
- Vanderhoef Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (510 more) ...
- Voorhees Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Munson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Friendsville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Chatham in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Chatham.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Chatham, with the one closest to Chatham listed first.
- Pawnee
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pawnee is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
- Lodi
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Litchfield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Friendsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Friendsville is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendsville
- Spencer
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Homer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Homer is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
- Chippewa Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Chippewa Lake is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chippewa Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
- Former name for Chippewa Lake:
- Chippewa-on-the-Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chippewa Lake <1>
- Mallet Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mallet Creek is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallet Creek
- Penfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Penfield is located in Lorain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penfield
- Homerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Homerville is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homerville
- Burbank
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Chamberlain ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Chamberlain is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Erhart
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Erhart is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erhart
- Medina
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- West Salem
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Chatham. See our List of 1890's Communities around Chatham.
Newspapers Published in Chatham ...
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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chatham.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chatham, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chatham.
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 Chatham:
- Websites specific to Ohio
- Pages specific to Medina County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Ashland County
- Champaign County
- Cuyahoga County
- Erie County
- Huron County
- Lorain County
- Richland County
- Stark County
- Summit County
- Wayne County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Ohio
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> | 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 Chatham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Chatham) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |