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Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Bedford County >> Wills Creek >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Wills Creek (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 Wills Creek. 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 Wills Creek ...

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 Wills Creek: Wills Crk. (or less commonly used: Wills Ck. or Wills Cr.)
  • While the name of this community is Wills Creek, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wills Creek may originally have been Will's Creek.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wills Creek might be written as Will Creek.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Wills Creek. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wills Creek.

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 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.

Wills Creek is located in Bedford 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 Bedford County: Allegany (MD), Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon & Somerset.

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

  • Bedford County     (The home county of Wills Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Hyndman
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cooks Mills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Cooks Mills is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills
    • Stringtown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Stringtown is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Beans Cove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Beans Cove is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans Cove
    • Kegg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Kegg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kegg
    • Rainsburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Rainsburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Manns Choice
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Charlesville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Charlesville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlesville
    • Schellsburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Bedford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cliffs ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Cliffs is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffs
    • Ott Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ott Town is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ott Town
    • Wolfsburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Wolfsburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfsburg
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Scalp Level
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Scalp Level is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalp Level
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
    • Ingleside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
  • Fulton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Emmaville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Emmaville is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmaville
    • Crystal Spring
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Crystal Spring is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Spring
    • Dott
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Dott is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dott
    • Warfordsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Akersville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Akersville is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akersville
    • Covalt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Covalt is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covalt
    • Needmore
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Sipes Mill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Sipes Mill is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipes Mill
    • Valley-Hi
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Valley-Hi is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley-Hi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Fairhope
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Johnsburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • New Baltimore
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • New Baltimore is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Baltimore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
    • Wellersburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Wellersburg is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellersburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
    • Callimont
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Callimont is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callimont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
    • Wittenberg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Wittenberg is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittenberg
    • Downey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Downey is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
    • Berlin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Hays Mill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Hays Mill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Mill
    • Glade City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Glade City is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade City
    • Pine Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Pine Hill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
    • Indian Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian Lake is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
    • Beachdale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Beachdale is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beachdale
  • Allegany County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Ellerslie
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Ellerslie is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerslie
    • Corriganville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Corriganville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corriganville
    • Mount Savage Junction
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Mount Savage Junction is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Savage Junction
    • Barrelville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Barrelville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrelville
    • Cumberland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Flintstone
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Savage
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • La Vale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Shanty Town ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Shanty Town is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanty Town
    • Rush
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Rush is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush
    • Eckhart Mines
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Eckhart Mines is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eckhart Mines
    • Zihlman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Zihlman is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zihlman
    • Cedar Cliff
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Cedar Cliff is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Cliff
  • Garrett County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Avilton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Avilton is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avilton
    • Grantsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Washington County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Pearre
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Pearre is located in Washington County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearre
    • Hancock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Hancock is located in Washington County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,522 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hancock <2>
  • Hampshire County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Donaldson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Donaldson is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
    • Okonoko
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Okonoko is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okonoko
    • Springfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Points
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Points is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Points
    • Ritters
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Ritters is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritters
    • Higginsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Higginsville is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higginsville
    • Three Churches
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Three Churches is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Churches
    • Wapocomo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Wapocomo is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wapocomo
  • Mineral County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Ridgeley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Carpendale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Carpendale is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
    • Wiley Ford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Short Gap
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Short Gap is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Gap
    • Fort Ashby
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Keyser
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Keyser is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyser
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,863 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keyser <2>
    • Piedmont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Morgan County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wills Creek, with the one closest to Wills Creek listed first.
    • Doe Gully
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Doe Gully is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Gully
    • Hansrote
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Hansrote is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hansrote
    • Orleans Cross Roads
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Orleans Cross Roads is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans Cross Roads
    • Magnolia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Magnolia is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
    • Paw Paw
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodmont is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodmont
    • Hancock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Hancock is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
    • Bath
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bath is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 587 people
    • Berkeley Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Berryville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Berryville is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville

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

Cemeteries Near Wills Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wills Creek.

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 Wills Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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.<6>

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

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

  • Hyndman
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Hoblitzell
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Hoblitzell is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoblitzell
  • Fossilville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fossilville is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossilville
  • Williams
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Williams is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams
  • Fairhope
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Madley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Madley is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madley
  • Foley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Foley is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foley
  • Cooks Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Cooks Mills is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills
  • Patience
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Patience is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patience
  • Glen Savage
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Glen Savage is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Savage
  • Glencoe
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Glencoe is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glencoe
  • Beans Cove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Beans Cove is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans Cove
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Buffalo Mills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Buffalo Mills is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Mills
    • Bard
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bard is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bard
    • Johnsburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Wills Creek ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wills Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wills Creek, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wills Creek.

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 Wills Creek:

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 Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MIHP (for the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties). More information about the MHT and MIHP can be found on their website: mht.maryland.gov.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Wills Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<6>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 Wills Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.