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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 Watson (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 Watson. 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 Watson ...

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.

Watson has also been known as: Watson Station and Watsons Station.

Another variation: Watsons.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Watson. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Watson.

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

Watson is located in Seneca 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 Seneca County: Crawford, Hancock, Huron, Sandusky, Wood & Wyandot.

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

  • Seneca County     (The home county of Watson)
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Benton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Chatfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Chatfield is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
    • Broken Sword
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Lemert
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • New Washington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • North Auburn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Oceola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Tiro
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Tiro is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tiro <1>
    • Bucyrus
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • North Robinson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • North Robinson is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Robinson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
  • Erie County
  • Hancock County
  • Huron County
  • Ottawa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Oak Harbor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Lacarne
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Elmore
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Clinton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Rocky Ridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Rocky Ridge is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
    • Gypsum
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Danbury
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Genoa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Violet ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Violet is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Violet
    • Martin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Locust Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Clay Center
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Clay Center is located in Ottawa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Center
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
  • Richland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Plymouth
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Forest is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
    • Shiloh
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sandusky County
  • Wood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Risingsun
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Bradner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Wayne
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • West Millgrove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • West Millgrove is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Millgrove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
    • Pemberville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Bloomdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Eagleville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Six Points
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Luckey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bairdstown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jerry City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jerry City is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerry City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 437 people
    • Cygnet
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Wyandot County

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

Cemeteries Near Watson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watson.

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 Watson - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Watson covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • McMeen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Egbert Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Bunker Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Jacobs Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Coffman Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Lowell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Pleasant Union Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Fravel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Fairmont Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Decker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (427 more) ...
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Springs Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenlawn Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)

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 Watson had a population of 42 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Fort Seneca
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Old Fort
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Old Fort is located in Seneca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Fort
  • Green Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cromers
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Tiffin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Swander
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Swander is located in Seneca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swander
  • Republic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Linden ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Linden is located in Seneca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
  • Maple Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Rockaway
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Rockaway is located in Seneca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockaway
  • Bettsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • West Lodi
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Scipio
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Colby
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Colby is located in Sandusky County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
    • Burgoon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Burgoon is located in Sandusky County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgoon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people

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

Newspapers Published in Watson ...

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 109 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watson, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watson.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Watson:

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 Watson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Watson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.