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 Williams Grove (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 Williams Grove. 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 Williams Grove ...
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 Williams Grove: Williams Grv.
- While the name of this community is Williams Grove, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Williams Grove may originally have been William's Grove.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Williams Grove might be written as William Grove.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Williams Grove. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Williams Grove.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Williams Grove is located in Cumberland 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 Cumberland County: Adams, Dauphin, Franklin, Perry & York.
Below are the counties that are near Williams Grove. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Williams Grove:
- Cumberland County (The home county of Williams Grove)
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Roxbury
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Roxbury is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxbury
- Trindle Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Trindle Springs is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trindle Springs
- Allenview
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Allenview is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenview
- Mechanicsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Boiling Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Lisburn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Lisburn is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisburn
- Shiremanstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Shiremanstown is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiremanstown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,641 people
- Sporting Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sporting Hill is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sporting Hill
- New Kingstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Middlesex
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Middlesex is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlesex
- Craighead
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Craighead is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craighead
- Camp Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Latimore
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Latimore is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latimore
- York Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Meade
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Lake Meade is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Meade
- Gargol
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gargol is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gargol
- Idaville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Idaville is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idaville
- Gardners
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- East Berlin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Hampton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Hampton is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
- Heidlersburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Heidlersburg is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heidlersburg
- Aspers
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bendersville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Guernsey
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Guernsey is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guernsey
- Allegheny County
- Bloomfield
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bloomfield is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,255 people
- Dauphin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Steelton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Harrisburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hillside Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hillside Village is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Village
- Highspire
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Edgemont
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Paxtang
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Paxtang is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paxtang
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,546 people
- Penbrook
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Penbrook is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penbrook
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,976 people
- Fort Hunter
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Hunter is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Hunter
- Lawnton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lawnton is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawnton
- Lucknow
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lucknow is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucknow
- Progress
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Progress is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progress
- Bloomburg Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bloomburg Village is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomburg Village
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Caledonia Park
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Caledonia Park is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia Park
- Mowersville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Mowersville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mowersville
- Mount Union
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Union is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Union
- Pinola
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Pinola is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinola
- Juniata County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Thompsontown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Locust Run
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Locust Run is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Run
- Lancaster County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Falmouth
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Falmouth is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
- Aberdeen
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Aberdeen is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
- Billmeyer ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Billmeyer is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billmeyer
- Elizabethtown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Maytown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Rheems
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Rheems is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rheems
- Florin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Florin is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florin
- Marietta
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Milton Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Milton Grove is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Grove
- Mount Joy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Columbia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Mastersonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Mastersonville is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mastersonville
- Lebanon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Campbelltown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Palmyra
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lawn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Syner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Syner is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syner
- Colebrook
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Colebrook is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colebrook
- Fontana
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Fontana is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana
- Mount Gretna
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Mount Gretna Heights
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Mount Gretna Heights is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gretna Heights
- Timber Hills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Timber Hills is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Hills
- Annville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Indiantown Gap
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Indiantown Gap is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Indiantown Gap
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Cove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Cove is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove
- Marysville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Perdix
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Perdix is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perdix
- Duncannon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Falling Spring
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Falling Spring is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Spring
- Mecks Corner
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mecks Corner is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mecks Corner
- Rose Glen
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Rose Glen is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Glen
- Alinda
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Alinda is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alinda
- Landisburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Blain
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- New Buffalo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- New Buffalo is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Buffalo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Elliottsburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Elliottsburg is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliottsburg
- York County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Siddonsburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Siddonsburg is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siddonsburg
- Dillsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Andersontown
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Andersontown is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andersontown
- Mount Top
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mount Top is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Top
- Uniontown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Uniontown is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Nauvoo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Nauvoo is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nauvoo
- Rudytown ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Rudytown is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudytown
- Rossville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Rossville is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossville
- Wellsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lewisberry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Alpine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Alpine is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Franklintown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Franklintown is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklintown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Williams Grove, see our County-by-County Page for Williams Grove.
Cemeteries Near Williams Grove ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williams Grove.
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 Williams Grove - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Williams Grove covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Dillsburg Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Chestnut Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bakers Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Longsdorf Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Myers Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Lantz Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Springville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- War of 1812 Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Fairview Bethel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (218 more) ...
- Letort Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letort Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Letort Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Carlisle.
- The Letort Cemetery has also been known as:
- Kutz Cemetery
- Kutz's Cemetery
- Letort UMC Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1965543 <3>
- Cumberland County Home Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Holly Springs Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
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 in 1895, Williams Grove had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Williams Grove, with the one closest to Williams Grove listed first.
- Brandtsville
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Brandtsville is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandtsville
- Siddonsburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Siddonsburg is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siddonsburg
- Bowmansdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Bowmansdale is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowmansdale
- Nantilly
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Nantilly is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantilly
- Trindle Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Trindle Springs is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trindle Springs
- Leidighs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Leidighs is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leidighs
- Dillsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mechanicsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dillsburg Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dillsburg Junction is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillsburg Junction
- Boiling Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Andersontown
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Andersontown is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andersontown
- Rossmoyne
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Rossmoyne is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossmoyne
- Continue List (22 more) ...
- Clear Spring
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Clear Spring is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Spring
- Mount Top
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mount Top is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Top
- New Kingstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Williams Grove. See our List of 1890's Communities around Williams Grove.
Newspapers Published in Williams Grove ...
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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williams Grove.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Williams Grove, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Williams Grove.
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 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 Williams Grove:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Cumberland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adams County
- Allegheny County
- Dauphin County
- Franklin County
- Juniata County
- Lancaster County
- Lebanon County
- Perry County
- York 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 Williams Grove, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Williams Grove) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |