Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Wills Town. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Wills Town to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Wills Town, please Contact Us.
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 Town (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 Town. 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 Town ...
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.
While the name of this community is Wills Town, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<2>. So Wills Town may originally have been Will's Town.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wills Town might be written as Will Town.
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.
Although our information shows that the community of Wills Town is historic, it would have been located within present day Muskingum 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 Muskingum County: Coshocton, Guernsey, Licking, Morgan, Noble & Perry.
Below are the counties that are near Wills Town. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wills Town:
- Muskingum County (The home county of Wills Town)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Dresden
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Trinway
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Adamsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rock Cut
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Cut is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Cut
- Gilbert
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Gilbert is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert
- Shannon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Shannon is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon
- Frazeysburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- North Zanesville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- North Zanesville is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Zanesville
- Wortley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Wortley is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wortley
- Norwich
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- New Concord
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Black Run
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Black Run is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Run
- Coshocton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Conesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Conesville is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 342 people
- Coshocton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Cooperdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cooperdale is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooperdale
- Plainfield
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Canal Lewisville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Canal Lewisville is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canal Lewisville
- White Womans Town ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- White Womans Town is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Womans Town
- West Lafayette
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- West Bedford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- West Bedford is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bedford
- Warsaw
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Mohawk Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mohawk Village is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk Village
- Metham
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Metham is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metham
- Fresno
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fresno is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresno
- Nellie
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Nellie is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nellie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
- Guernsey County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Birds Run
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Birds Run is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birds Run
- Kimbolton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Oldham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Oldham is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldham
- Abledell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Abledell is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abledell
- Meadow Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Meadow Village is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Village
- Cambridge
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Claysville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Claysville is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
- Center
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Center is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center
- Clio ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Clio is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clio
- Odell
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Odell is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
- Spring Valley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Valley is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Brady ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Brady is located in Guernsey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
- Byesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Holmes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Killbuck
(23 miles [37 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
- Charm
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Farmerstown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Farmerstown is located in Holmes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmerstown
- Glenmont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Millersburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Berlin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Knox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Esto ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Esto is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esto
- Bladensburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hollisters ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Hollisters is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisters
- Zuck ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Zuck is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zuck
- Martinsburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Millwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Millwood is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
- Pipesville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pipesville is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipesville
- 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
- Buckeye City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Buckeye City is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye City
- Danville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Gambier
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Licking County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Frampton ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Frampton is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frampton
- Reform
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Reform is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reform
- Tilton Crossroads ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Tilton Crossroads is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton Crossroads
- Hanover
(19 miles [30.6 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
- Hollister's Mill ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Hollister's Mill is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollister's Mill
- Claylick ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Claylick is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claylick
- Henpeck ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Henpeck is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henpeck
- Long Run ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 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
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Rain Rock is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rain Rock
- Gratiot
(21 miles [33.8 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
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Ben is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben
- Little Claylick ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Little Claylick is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Claylick
- Wilkins Run
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Wilkins Run is located in Licking County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkins Run
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Durant
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Durant is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durant
- Eagleport
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Eagleport is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleport
- Deavertown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Deavertown is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deavertown
- Noble County
- Mount Zion
(28 miles [45.1 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 Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Mount Perry
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Perry is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Perry
- Roseville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Chalfants
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Chalfants is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalfants
- Crooksville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Glenford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Redfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Redfield is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfield
- Clover Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Clover Hill is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Hill
- Tuscarawas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Postboy
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Postboy is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postboy
- Newcomerstown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Wolf
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wolf is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf
- Bernice
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Bernice is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
- Baltic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Port Washington
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Peoli
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Peoli is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoli
- Stone Creek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Gilmore
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Gilmore is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore
- Shanesville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Shanesville is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanesville
- Sugarcreek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Gnadenhutten
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Old Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Old Town is located in Tuscarawas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wills Town, see our County-by-County Page for Wills Town.
Cemeteries Near Wills Town ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wills Town.
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 Town - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wills Town covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- St. Matthews Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Titus Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Franklin Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- William Robinson Family Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Adams Mills Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Stanley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bethesda Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Adams Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Little Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- George Adams Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bethany Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cox Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (571 more) ...
- Zion Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Royers Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Fork Baptist Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
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.
While we didn't find Wills Town in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wills Town.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wills Town, with the one closest to Wills Town listed first.
- Adams Mills
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Adams Mills is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Mills
- Conesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Conesville is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 342 people
- Wills Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wills Creek is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wills Creek
- Willowbrook ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Willowbrook is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook
- Franklin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Franklin is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Trinway
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Dresden
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- New Moscow
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- New Moscow is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Moscow
- Rock Cut
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Cut is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Cut
- Adamsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Tyrone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Tyrone is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone
- Wakatomika
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wakatomika is located in Coshocton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakatomika
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Ellis
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Ellis is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
- East Greenwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- East Greenwood is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenwood
- Otsego
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Otsego is located in Muskingum County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsego
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wills Town. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wills Town.
Newspapers Published in Wills Town ...
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 85 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wills Town.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wills Town, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wills Town.
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 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 Town:
- Websites specific to Ohio
- Pages specific to Muskingum County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Coshocton County
- Guernsey County
- Holmes County
- Knox County
- Licking County
- Morgan County
- Noble County
- Perry County
- Tuscarawas County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Ohio
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Town, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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). |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Wills Town) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |