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 Bells Mills (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 Bells Mills. 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 Bells Mills ...
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 Bells Mills: Bells Mls. (or less commonly used: Bells Mlls.)
- While the name of this community is Bells Mills, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Bells Mills may originally have been Bell's Mills.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Bells Mills might be written as Bell Mills.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bells Mills. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bells Mills.
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 southwest 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 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.
Bells Mills is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Armstrong, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Forest & Indiana.
Below are the counties that are near Bells Mills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bells Mills:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Bells Mills)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Albion
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Albion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Winslow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Winslow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winslow
- Punxsutawney
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Panic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Panic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panic
- Wishaw
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Wishaw is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wishaw
- Oliveburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Oliveburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliveburg
- Valier
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Valier is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valier
- Sykesville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Prescottville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Prescottville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescottville
- Green Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Green Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Fuller
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Fuller is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Reynoldsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Coolspring
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Dayton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- McWilliams
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- McWilliams is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McWilliams
- Barnards
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Barnards is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnards
- Eddyville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Eddyville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddyville
- Bryan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bryan is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
- Millville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Millville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
- Putneyville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Putneyville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putneyville
- Atwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Atwood is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Echo
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Echo is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- Muff
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Muff is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muff
- South Bethlehem
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- South Bethlehem is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bethlehem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 443 people
- Rural Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Yatesboro
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Yatesboro is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesboro
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Garmantown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Garmantown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garmantown
- Barnesboro
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Barnesboro is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesboro
- Northern Cambria
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Northern Cambria is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northern Cambria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,456 people
- West Branch
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- West Branch is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Branch
- Spangler
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Spangler is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
- Hastings
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Nicktown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Nicktown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicktown
- Saint Benedict
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Benedict is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Benedict
- Thomas Mills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Thomas Mills is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mills
- Elmora
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Elmora is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmora
- Carrolltown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Flinton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Patton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Clarion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Hawthorn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Fairmont City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Crates
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Crates is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crates
- New Bethlehem
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Frogtown
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Frogtown is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogtown
- Day
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Day is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day
- Waterson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Waterson is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterson
- Brinkerton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Brinkerton is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinkerton
- Leatherwood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Leatherwood is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherwood
- Mechanicsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mechanicsville is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Piolett
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Piolett is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piolett
- Strattanville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Reidsburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Reidsburg is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reidsburg
- Clearfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Troutville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Troutville is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troutville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Stanley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stanley is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- Helvetia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Helvetia is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helvetia
- Mahaffey
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Luthersburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Burnside
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Burnside is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Bower
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Bower is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bower
- Curry Run
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Curry Run is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry Run
- Sandy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Sandy is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
- Laborde
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Laborde is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laborde
- DuBois
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- New Washington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- New Washington is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Washington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Newburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Newburg is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
- Elk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Brockport
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Horton City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Horton City is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton City
- Shawmut
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Shawmut is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawmut
- Challenge
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Challenge is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challenge
- Lake City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Millstone
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Millstone is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
- Kylers Corners
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kylers Corners is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kylers Corners
- Scattertown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Scattertown is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scattertown
- Hallton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Hallton is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallton
- Forest County
- Clarington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Rossiter
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Johnsonburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Johnsonburg is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonburg
- Marchand
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Marchand is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marchand
- Rochester Mills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Rochester Mills is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester Mills
- Urey
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Urey is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urey
- Savan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Savan is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savan
- Trade City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Trade City is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trade City
- Hooverhurst
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Hooverhurst is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooverhurst
- Glen Campbell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mottarns Mill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mottarns Mill is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mottarns Mill
- Georgeville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Georgeville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgeville
- Hillsdale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Hillsdale is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Elkin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Elkin is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkin
- Lawrence County
- Big Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Big Run is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
- Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bells Mills, see our County-by-County Page for Bells Mills.
Cemeteries Near Bells Mills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bells Mills.
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 Bells Mills - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bells Mills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Circle Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Oak Lawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Ridgemont Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Bowers Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- McClure Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Calvary Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Punxsutawney.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1966411 <3>
- Pearce Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Anita Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St. Adrian Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (172 more) ...
- Perry Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- White Church Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Round Top Church Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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 Bells Mills had a population of 123 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bells Mills, with the one closest to Bells Mills listed first.
- Punxsutawney
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Elbell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Elbell is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbell
- Winslow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Winslow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winslow
- Big Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Big Run is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
- Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
- Adrian Mines
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Adrian Mines is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adrian Mines
- Anita
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Anita is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anita
- Walston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Walston is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walston
- Flora
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Flora is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
- Horatio
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Horatio is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horatio
- Panic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Panic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panic
- Hillman
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hillman is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
- Frostburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Frostburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frostburg
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Valier
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Valier is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valier
- Covode
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Covode is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covode
- Cramer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cramer is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cramer
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bells Mills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bells Mills.
Newspapers Published in Bells Mills ...
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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bells Mills.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bells Mills, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bells Mills.
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 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 Bells Mills:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Armstrong County
- Cambria County
- Clarion County
- Clearfield County
- Elk County
- Forest County
- Indiana County
- Lawrence County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania
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 Bells Mills, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bells Mills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |