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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 Sylvester (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 Sylvester. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Sylvester is located in Tioga County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Tioga County: Chemung (NY), Steuben (NY), Bradford, Lycoming & Potter.

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

  • Tioga County     (The home county of Sylvester)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
    • Austinburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinburg
      • Austinburg is located in Tioga County
    • Westfield
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cowanesque
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowanesque
      • Cowanesque is located in Tioga County
    • Potter Brook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter Brook
      • Potter Brook is located in Tioga County
    • Knoxville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knoxville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
      • Knoxville is located in Tioga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Knoxville <1>
    • Osceola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
      • Osceola is located in Tioga County
    • Gurnee
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gurnee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurnee
      • Gurnee is located in Tioga County
    • Elkland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elkland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkland
      • Elkland is located in Tioga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,724 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkland <1>
    • Manhattan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manhattan
      • Manhattan is located in Tioga County
    • Keeneyville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneyville
      • Keeneyville is located in Tioga County
    • Asaph
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Asaph. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asaph
      • Asaph is located in Tioga County
    • Marsh Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Marsh Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Creek
      • Marsh Creek is located in Tioga County
  • Potter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
    • North Fork
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fork
      • North Fork is located in Potter County
    • Elmer
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elmer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmer
      • Elmer is located in Potter County
    • Harrison Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison Valley
      • Harrison Valley is located in Potter County
    • Hector
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hector
      • Hector is located in Potter County
    • Sunderlinville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sunderlinville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunderlinville
      • Sunderlinville is located in Potter County
    • North Bingham
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bingham
      • North Bingham is located in Potter County
    • Ulysses
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • West Bingham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Bingham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bingham
      • West Bingham is located in Potter County
    • Newfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Newfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newfield
      • Newfield is located in Potter County
    • Brookland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brookland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookland
      • Brookland is located in Potter County
    • Gold
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold
      • Gold is located in Potter County
    • Genesee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genesee
      • Genesee is located in Potter County
  • Allegany County (NY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
    • Whitesville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Independence
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Independence is located in Allegany County (NY)
    • Paynesville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville
      • Paynesville is located in Allegany County (NY)
    • Andover
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
      • Andover is located in Allegany County (NY)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 965 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Andover <1>
    • Elm Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elm Valley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Valley
      • Elm Valley is located in Allegany County (NY)
    • Stannards
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stannards
      • Stannards is located in Allegany County (NY)
    • Wellsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wellsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
      • Wellsville is located in Allegany County (NY)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,329 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wellsville <1>
    • Alfred
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alfred have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alfred
      • Alfred is located in Allegany County (NY)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,919 people
      • Alfred has also been known as:
      • Alfred village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alfred <1>
    • Alma
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Alma is located in Allegany County (NY)
    • Petrolia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petrolia
      • Petrolia is located in Allegany County (NY)
    • Pikeville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pikeville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeville
      • Pikeville is located in Allegany County (NY)
    • Almond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
      • Almond is located in Allegany County (NY)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Almond <1>
  • Steuben County (NY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
    • South Troupsburg
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Troupsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Troupsburg
      • South Troupsburg is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • Troupsburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Rexville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jasper
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Woodhull
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Hedgesville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hedgesville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedgesville
      • Hedgesville is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • Van Vleet
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Van Vleet. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Vleet
      • Van Vleet is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • South Canisteo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Canisteo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canisteo
      • South Canisteo is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • Rathbone
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathbone
      • Rathbone is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • Cameron Mills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cameron
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Sylvester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sylvester.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Plank Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plank Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Plank Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clark Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Potter Street Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Potter Street Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Potter Street Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Krusen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Krusen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Krusen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Champlin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Murdock Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Card Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Card Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Card Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rogers Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rogers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rogers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kelly Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kelly Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kelly Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (252 more) ...
    • Young Hickory Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Young Hickory Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Young Hickory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Swimley Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swimley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swimley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Sylvester had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Brookfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
    • Brookfield is located in Tioga County
  • Westfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Cowanesque
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowanesque
    • Cowanesque is located in Tioga County
  • Austinburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinburg
    • Austinburg is located in Tioga County
  • North Fork
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fork
    • North Fork is located in Potter County
  • Harrison Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison Valley
    • Harrison Valley is located in Potter County
  • Elmer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elmer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmer
    • Elmer is located in Potter County
  • Potter Brook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter Brook
    • Potter Brook is located in Tioga County
  • South Troupsburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Troupsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Troupsburg
    • South Troupsburg is located in Steuben County (NY)
  • Troupsburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mills
    • Mills is located in Potter County
  • Sabinsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sabinsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sabinsville
    • Sabinsville is located in Tioga County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Young Hickory
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Young Hickory have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young Hickory
      • Young Hickory is located in Steuben County (NY)
    • Knoxville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knoxville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
      • Knoxville is located in Tioga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Knoxville <1>
    • Hector
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hector
      • Hector is located in Potter County

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

Newspapers Published in Sylvester ...

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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sylvester.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sylvester, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sylvester.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Sylvester:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sylvester. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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>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 Sylvester, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sylvester) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sylvester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9637, Longitude: -77.5589       In this case, the coordinates for Sylvester have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025