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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 Benson (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 Benson. 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 northwest 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 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.

Benson is located in Somerset 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 Somerset County: Allegany (MD), Garrett (MD), Bedford, Cambria, Fayette & Westmoreland.

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

  • Somerset County     (The home county of Benson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson, with the one closest to Benson listed first.
    • Hollsopple
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Davidsville
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Blough
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Blough is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blough
    • Jerome
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jerome is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
    • Thomas Mill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Thomas Mill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mill
    • Tire Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Tire Hill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tire Hill
    • Paint
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Paint is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
    • Hooversville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Hooversville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooversville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 589 people
    • Windber
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Forward
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Forward is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forward
    • Jenners Crossroads
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
    • Jenners
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jenners is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners
    • Jennerstown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bedford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson, with the one closest to Benson listed first.
    • Pleasantville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Pleasantville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
    • New Paris
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pavia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Pavia is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavia
    • Kegg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Kegg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kegg
    • Schellsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Osterburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Saint Clairsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Saint Clairsville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clairsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • Manns Choice
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Wolfsburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Wolfsburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfsburg
    • King
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • King is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
    • Yount
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Yount is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yount
    • Salemville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Salemville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salemville
    • Cliffs ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cliffs is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffs
  • Blair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson, with the one closest to Benson listed first.
    • Blue Knob
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Blue Knob is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Knob
    • Cotton Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Cotton Town is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Town
    • Claysburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Puzzletown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Puzzletown is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puzzletown
    • Brooks Mill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Brooks Mill is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks Mill
    • Newry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Roaring Spring
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • East Sharpsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • East Sharpsburg is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sharpsburg
    • Cross Keys
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Cross Keys is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
    • Duncansville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson, with the one closest to Benson listed first.
    • Ingleside
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
    • Belmont
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Belmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Ferndale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Scalp Level
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Scalp Level is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalp Level
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
    • Elim
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Elim is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
    • Lorain
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Lorain is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 680 people
    • Geistown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Geistown is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geistown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,242 people
    • Daisytown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Daisytown is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisytown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 290 people
    • Dale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Dale is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,110 people
    • Southmont
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Southmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
    • Westmont
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Westmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,625 people
    • Brownstown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Conemaugh
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conemaugh
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson, with the one closest to Benson listed first.
    • Seven Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Champion
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Indian Head
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Indian Head is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
    • White
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • White is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Bear Rocks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
    • Laurelville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
  • Indiana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson, with the one closest to Benson listed first.
    • Armagh
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Robinson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Robinson is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Dilltown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Wehrum
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Wehrum is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wehrum
    • Rexis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Rexis is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexis
    • Claghorn ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Claghorn is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claghorn
    • Heshbon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Heshbon is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heshbon
    • Littletown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Littletown is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littletown
    • Palmertown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Black Lick
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Black Lick is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
    • Blairsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Josephine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Josephine is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
    • Coral
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Westmoreland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Benson, with the one closest to Benson listed first.
    • Laurel Mountain
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Laurel Mountain is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
      • Laurel Mountain has also been known as:
      • Laurel Mountain Park
    • New Florence
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Robb
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Robb is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robb
    • West Fairfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • West Fairfield is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairfield
    • Laughlintown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Seward
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Seward is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seward
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 458 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seward <1>
    • Oak Grove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Oak Grove is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Ligonier
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Rector
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Bolivar
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Darlington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
    • Derry
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Derry is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,495 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derry <1>
    • Stahlstown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Benson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Benson.

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

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

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

  • Custer Community Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer Community Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Custer Community Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Hollsopple.
    • The Custer Community Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Custer Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44661 <2>
  • Kaufman Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Weaver Burial Grounds
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Weaver Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Weaver Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • St.s Peter & Paul Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Old Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • St. Stanislaus Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Richland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Anthonys Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wertz - Miltenberger Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (165 more) ...
    • Berkley Hills Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jenners Crossroads Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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.<3>

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

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

  • Hollsopple
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Davidsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Hooversville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hooversville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooversville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 589 people
  • Hillsboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillsboro is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro
  • Ingleside
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
  • Walsall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Walsall is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsall
  • Scalp Level
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Scalp Level is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalp Level
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
  • Ferndale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Forward
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Forward is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forward
  • Rummel
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Rummel is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rummel
  • Geistown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Geistown is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geistown
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,242 people
  • Stonycreek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Stonycreek is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonycreek
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Glessner
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Glessner is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glessner
    • Jennerstown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jenners Crossroads
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads

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

Newspapers Published in Benson ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Benson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Benson, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Benson.

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 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 Benson:

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 Benson, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Benson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.