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 Purgatory (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 Purgatory. 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 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.
Purgatory is located in Newport County .
To see how the shape of the state's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries .
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Newport County : Bristol (MA) , Bristol , Kent & Washington .
Below are the counties that are near Purgatory. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Purgatory:
Newport County (The home county of Purgatory)
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Newport East (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Newport East is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport East Newport (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Newport is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport Population from the 2020 Census: 24,412 people
Middletown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Middletown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown Population from the 2020 Census: 15,803 people
Middletown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Middletown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown Brenton Village (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Brenton Village is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brenton Village Sakonnet (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Sakonnet is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sakonnet Little Compton (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Little Compton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Compton Lawtons (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Lawtons is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawtons Jamestown (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Jamestown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Little Compton (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Little Compton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Compton Population from the 2020 Census: 3,462 people
Portsmouth (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Portsmouth is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portsmouth Population from the 2020 Census: 17,108 people
Jamestown (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
Jamestown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Population from the 2020 Census: 5,482 people
Clarks Village (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Clarks Village is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Village Bristol County
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Bristol (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Bristol is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol Bristol (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Bristol is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol Population from the 2020 Census: 21,866 people
Coggeshall (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Coggeshall is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coggeshall Barrington (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Barrington is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Population from the 2020 Census: 16,015 people
Barrington (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Barrington is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington Warren (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Warren is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren Population from the 2020 Census: 10,469 people
Warren (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Warren is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren Annawomscutt (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Annawomscutt is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annawomscutt Kent County
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Buttonwoods (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Buttonwoods is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttonwoods East Greenwich (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
East Greenwich is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenwich Population from the 2020 Census: 13,141 people
East Greenwich (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
East Greenwich is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenwich Oakland Beach (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Oakland Beach is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Beach Shawomet (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Shawomet is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawomet Cowesett (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Cowesett is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowesett Kettle Corner (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Kettle Corner is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kettle Corner Shippee Corner (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Shippee Corner is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shippee Corner Warwick (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Warwick is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warwick Population from the 2020 Census: 81,189 people
Apponaug (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Apponaug is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apponaug Hillsgrove (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Hillsgrove is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsgrove West Warwick (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
West Warwick is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Warwick Population from the 2020 Census: 28,967 people
Quidnick (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Quidnick is located in Kent County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quidnick Providence County
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Bellefonte (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Bellefonte is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefonte Kent Corner (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Kent Corner is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Corner Riverside (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Riverside is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Sockanosset (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Sockanosset is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sockanosset Cranston (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Cranston is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranston Population from the 2020 Census: 81,142 people
Garden City (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Garden City is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City Meshanticut (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Meshanticut is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meshanticut Oaklawn (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Oaklawn is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaklawn Armington Corner (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Armington Corner is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armington Corner Leonard Corner (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Leonard Corner is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard Corner Luthers Corners (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Luthers Corners is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luthers Corners Knightsville (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Knightsville is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsville Carpenters Corner (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Carpenters Corner is located in Providence County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenters Corner Washington County
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Saunderstown (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
Saunderstown is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saunderstown Bridgetown (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
Bridgetown is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgetown Narragansett (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Narragansett is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narragansett Population from the 2020 Census: 15,309 people
Narragansett (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Narragansett is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narragansett North Kingstown (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
North Kingstown is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Kingstown Population from the 2020 Census: 26,278 people
North Kingstown (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
North Kingstown is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Kingstown Allenton (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Allenton is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenton Narragansett Pier (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Narragansett Pier is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narragansett Pier Belleville (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
Belleville is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleville Wickford (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
Wickford is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickford Peace Dale (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Peace Dale is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Dale Mount View (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
Mount View is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount View Kingston (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
Kingston is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston New London County (CT)
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Pawcatuck (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Voluntown (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Voluntown is located in New London County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voluntown Population from the 2020 Census: 2,500 people
Clarks Village (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Clarks Village is located in New London County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Village North Stonington (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
North Stonington is located in New London County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stonington Population from the 2020 Census: 5,197 people
Bristol County (MA)
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Acoaxet (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
Acoaxet is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acoaxet Westport Point (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
Westport Point is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport Point Central Village (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
Central Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Village Westport (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Westport is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport Population from the 2020 Census: 16,097 people
Gidleys Corner (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Gidleys Corner is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gidleys Corner Globe Village (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Globe Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe Village North Westport (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
North Westport is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Westport Westport Factory (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Westport Factory is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport Factory Fall River (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Fall River is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River Population from the 2020 Census: 89,792 people
Flint Village (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Flint Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Village Oak Grove Village (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Oak Grove Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove Village Bowenville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Bowenville is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowenville Dartmouth (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Dartmouth is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dartmouth Population from the 2020 Census: 33,926 people
Dukes County (MA)
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Cuttyhunk (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Cuttyhunk is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuttyhunk Aquinnah (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Aquinnah is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aquinnah Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
Former name for Aquinnah:
Gay Head Gosnold (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Gosnold is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gosnold Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
Menemsha (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Menemsha is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menemsha Squibnocket (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Squibnocket is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squibnocket Chilmark (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Chilmark is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilmark Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
Christian Town (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Christian Town is located in Dukes County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Town Plymouth County (MA)
The following are listed by their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Mattapoisett (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Mattapoisett is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattapoisett Population from the 2020 Census: 6,427 people
Rochester (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Rochester is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester Population from the 2020 Census: 5,740 people
Lakeville (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Lakeville is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville Population from the 2020 Census: 11,698 people
Marion (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Marion is located in Plymouth County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion Population from the 2020 Census: 5,189 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Purgatory, see our County-by-County Page for Purgatory .
Cemeteries Near Purgatory ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Purgatory.
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 Purgatory - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Purgatory covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Barker Burying Ground (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
The Jewish Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Trinity Churchyard Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Arnold Burying Ground (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Newport Memorial Park (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Middletown Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
St. Marys Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Island Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Braman Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Common Ground Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Coddington Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Governors Graveyard (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Continue List (603 more) ...
Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
St. Columbas Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Union Cemetery (5 miles [8 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>
While we didn't find Purgatory in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Purgatory.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Purgatory, with the one closest to Purgatory listed first.
Newport (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Newport is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport Population from the 2020 Census: 24,412 people
South Portsmouth (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
South Portsmouth is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Portsmouth Little Compton (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Little Compton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Compton Jamestown (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Jamestown is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Tiverton Four Corners (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Adamsville (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
Adamsville is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville Portsmouth (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Portsmouth is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portsmouth Narragansett (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Narragansett is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narragansett Hamilton (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
Hamilton is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton Westport Point (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
Westport Point is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport Point Tiverton (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Tiverton is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton Bristol Ferry (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Bristol Ferry is located in Newport County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol Ferry Continue List (14 more) ...
Allenton (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Allenton is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allenton Peace Dale (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Peace Dale is located in Washington County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Dale Central Village (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
Central Village is located in Bristol County (MA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Village
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Purgatory. See our List of 1890's Communities around Purgatory .
Newspapers Published in Purgatory ...
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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Purgatory.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Purgatory, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> Extended Newspaper List for Purgatory.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Purgatory:
Websites specific to Rhode Island Pages specific to Newport County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Bristol County Kent County Providence County Washington County New London County Bristol County Dukes County Plymouth County Cemetery Information and Directories for Rhode Island Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Purgatory. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of Rhode Island: https://www.ri.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. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Purgatory) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. The Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission (RIHCC) has created and maintains a database of cemeteries. More information about the RIHCC can be found on their website: rihistoriccemeteries.org . 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 . 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 Purgatory, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.