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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 Bear Swamp (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 Bear Swamp. 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.

Bear Swamp is located in Clinton County.

To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Clinton County: Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, Potter & Union.

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

  • Clinton County     (The home county of Bear Swamp)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Swamp, with the one closest to Bear Swamp listed first.
    • Beech Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Farrandsville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Farrandsville is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrandsville
    • Mill Hall
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Abdera
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Abdera is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abdera
    • Flemington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Flemington is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flemington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,312 people
    • Cedar Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Cedar Springs is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
    • Lock Haven
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Salona
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Salona is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salona
    • Lamar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Castanea
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Dunnstown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Dunnstown is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnstown
    • Swissdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Swissdale is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swissdale
  • Cameron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Swamp, with the one closest to Bear Swamp listed first.
    • Wyside
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Wyside is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyside
    • Driftwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Huntley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Huntley is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntley
  • Centre County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Swamp, with the one closest to Bear Swamp listed first.
    • Monument
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Monument is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument
    • Blanchard
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Blanchard is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchard
    • Romola
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Romola is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romola
    • Howard
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jacksonville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jacksonville is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
    • Curtin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Curtin is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtin
    • Zion
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Zion is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion
    • Central City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Central City is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
    • Milesburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Pancake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Pancake is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancake
    • Poorman Side
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Poorman Side is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poorman Side
    • Bellefonte
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Clearfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Swamp, with the one closest to Bear Swamp listed first.
    • Pottersdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Pottersdale is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersdale
    • Keewaydin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Keewaydin is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keewaydin
    • Kylertown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Lycoming County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Swamp, with the one closest to Bear Swamp listed first.
    • Jersey Mills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Ramsey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Ramsey is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
    • Jersey Shore
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • English Mills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • English Mills is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Mills
    • Antes Fort
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Antes Fort is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antes Fort
    • Salladasburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Salladasburg is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salladasburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Carsontown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Carsontown is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carsontown
    • Hughesville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Hilborn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Hilborn is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilborn
    • Collomsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Collomsville is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collomsville
    • Brookside
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Brookside is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
    • Linden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Mifflin County
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Swamp, with the one closest to Bear Swamp listed first.
    • Cherry Run
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Cherry Run is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Run
    • Pardee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Pardee is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardee
    • Laurelton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Laurelton is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelton
    • Glen Iron
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Glen Iron is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Iron
    • Hartleton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Hartleton is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartleton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 275 people

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

Cemeteries Near Bear Swamp ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bear Swamp.

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 Bear Swamp - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Clark Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Lucas Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Hays - Fearon Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Schencks Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Cedar Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Beth Yehuda Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • St. Agnes Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (74 more) ...
    • Lick Run Presbyterian Church Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Disciples Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Dunnstown UMC Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)

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>

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

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

  • Beech Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Blanchard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Blanchard is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchard
  • Romola
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Romola is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romola
  • Eagleville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagleville is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleville
  • Farrandsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Farrandsville is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrandsville
  • Ferney
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ferney is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferney
  • Abdera
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Abdera is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abdera
  • Mill Hall
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Glen Union
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Glen Union is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Union
  • Parvin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Parvin is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parvin
  • Cedar Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Springs is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
  • Flemington
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Flemington is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flemington
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,312 people
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Queens Run
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Queens Run is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queens Run
    • Whetham
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Whetham is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whetham
    • Lamar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Bear Swamp ...

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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bear Swamp.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bear Swamp, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bear Swamp.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Bear Swamp:

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 Bear Swamp, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Bear Swamp) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.