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 Wills Creek (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 Wills Creek. 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 Wills Creek ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Wills Creek: Wills Crk. (or less commonly used: Wills Ck. or Wills Cr.)
- While the name of this community is Wills Creek, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wills Creek may originally have been Will's Creek.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wills Creek might be written as Will Creek.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Wills Creek. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wills Creek.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Wills Creek is located in Coshocton 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 Coshocton County: Guernsey, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Muskingum & Tuscarawas.
Below are the counties that are near Wills Creek. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wills Creek:
- Coshocton County (The home county of Wills Creek)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Conesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Conesville is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 342 people
- Coshocton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Plainfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Canal Lewisville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Canal Lewisville is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canal Lewisville
- West Lafayette
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- White Womans Town ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- White Womans Town is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Womans Town
- Cooperdale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Cooperdale is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooperdale
- Fresno
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fresno is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresno
- Warsaw
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- West Bedford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- West Bedford is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bedford
- Chili
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Chili is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chili
- Metham
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Metham is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metham
- Mohawk Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Mohawk Village is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk Village
- Guernsey County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Birds Run
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Birds Run is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birds Run
- Kimbolton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Oldham
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Oldham is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldham
- Abledell
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Abledell is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abledell
- Meadow Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Meadow Village is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Village
- Cambridge
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Center
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Center is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center
- Clio ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Clio is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clio
- Odell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Odell is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
- Claysville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Claysville is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
- Brady ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Brady is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
- Spring Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Valley is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Birmingham
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Birmingham is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
- Former names for Birmingham:
- Milnersville
- New Birmingham
- Harrison County
- Freeport
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Holmes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Charm
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Farmerstown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Farmerstown is located in Holmes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmerstown
- Killbuck
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Stillwell
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Stillwell is located in Holmes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stillwell
- Berlin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Millersburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Glenmont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Benton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Benton is located in Holmes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
- Mount Hope
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Knox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Esto ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Esto is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esto
- Bladensburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Zuck ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Zuck is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zuck
- Hollisters ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hollisters is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisters
- Gann
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Gann is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gann
- Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
- Pipesville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pipesville is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipesville
- Millwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Millwood is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
- Martinsburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Buckeye City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Buckeye City is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye City
- Danville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Licking County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Frampton ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Frampton is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frampton
- Tilton Crossroads ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Tilton Crossroads is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton Crossroads
- Reform
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Reform is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reform
- Hanover
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Hanover is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,225 people
- Henpeck ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Henpeck is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henpeck
- Hollister's Mill ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hollister's Mill is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollister's Mill
- Long Run ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Long Run is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Run
- Former names for Long Run:
- Colville
- Oberlin
- Rain Rock ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Rain Rock is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rain Rock
- Gratiot
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Gratiot is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gratiot
- Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
- Ben
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Ben is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben
- Claylick ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Claylick is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claylick
- Little Claylick ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Little Claylick is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Claylick
- Brownsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Durant
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Durant is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durant
- Eagleport
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Eagleport is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleport
- Muskingum County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Wills Town ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Wills Town is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wills Town
- Adamsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Trinway
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Dresden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Cut
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Cut is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Cut
- Gilbert
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Gilbert is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert
- Norwich
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- New Concord
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Shannon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Shannon is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon
- Frazeysburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- North Zanesville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- North Zanesville is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Zanesville
- Wortley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wortley is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wortley
- Noble County
- Mount Zion
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Zion is located in Noble County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Mount Perry
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Perry is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Perry
- Roseville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Tuscarawas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Postboy
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Postboy is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postboy
- Newcomerstown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wolf
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Wolf is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf
- Bernice
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Bernice is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
- Baltic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Port Washington
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stone Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmore
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Gilmore is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore
- Peoli
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Peoli is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoli
- Gnadenhutten
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Shanesville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Shanesville is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanesville
- Sugarcreek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- West Chester
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- West Chester is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chester
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wills Creek, see our County-by-County Page for Wills Creek.
Cemeteries Near Wills Creek ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wills Creek.
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 Wills Creek - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wills Creek covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Bethany Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Royers Chapel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Franklin Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Cemetery
- The Franklin Cemetery has also been known as:
- Franklin Methodist Church Cemetery
- Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Franklin Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- William Robinson Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Titus Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Adams Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Zion Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Maysville Methodist Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (591 more) ...
- Tyndall Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- St. Matthews Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bethesda Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Wills Creek had a population of 97 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
- Franklin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Franklin is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Conesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Conesville is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 342 people
- Bacon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bacon is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bacon
- Adams Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Adams Mills is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Mills
- Willowbrook ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Willowbrook is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook
- Roscoe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Roscoe is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
- Otsego
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Otsego is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsego
- Coshocton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- New Moscow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- New Moscow is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Moscow
- Adamsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Plainfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Morgan Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Morgan Run is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan Run
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Trinway
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Linton Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Linton Mills is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linton Mills
- West Lafayette
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wills Creek. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wills Creek.
Newspapers Published in Wills Creek ...
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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wills Creek.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wills Creek, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wills Creek.
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 Wills Creek:
- Websites specific to Ohio
- Pages specific to Coshocton County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Guernsey County
- Harrison County
- Holmes County
- Knox County
- Licking County
- Morgan County
- Muskingum County
- Noble County
- Perry County
- Tuscarawas County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Ohio
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> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Wills Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Wills Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |