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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Chaffee. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Chaffee to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Chaffee, please Contact Us.

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 Chaffee (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 Chaffee. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Although our information shows that the community of Chaffee is historic, it would have been located within present day Aiken County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Aiken County: Burke (GA), Richmond (GA), Barnwell, Edgefield, Lexington, Orangeburg & Saluda.

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

  • Aiken County     (The home county of Chaffee)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaffee, with the one closest to Chaffee listed first.
    • Seivern
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seivern
      • Seivern is located in Aiken County
    • Wagener
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Camp Rawls
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Rawls
      • Camp Rawls is located in Aiken County
    • Perry
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Kitchings Mill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kitchings Mill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitchings Mill
      • Kitchings Mill is located in Aiken County
      • Kitchings Mill has also been known as:
      • Kinchens Mill
    • Salley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Monetta
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Windsor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Montmorenci
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Nicholson Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nicholson Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholson Village
      • Nicholson Village is located in Aiken County
    • Roseland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Roseland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
      • Roseland is located in Aiken County
    • Aiken
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Eureka
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eureka. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
      • Eureka is located in Aiken County
  • Bamberg County
    • Denmark
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Barnwell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaffee, with the one closest to Chaffee listed first.
    • Whaley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whaley
      • Whaley is located in Barnwell County
    • Williston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Elko
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko
      • Elko is located in Barnwell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elko <2>
    • Reynold
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynold have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynold
      • Reynold is located in Barnwell County
    • Blackville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Hilda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Edgefield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaffee, with the one closest to Chaffee listed first.
    • Johnston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Trenton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Lancaster County
  • Lexington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaffee, with the one closest to Chaffee listed first.
    • Pelion
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilbert
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Summit
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Summit is located in Lexington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 486 people
    • Fredonia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fredonia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
      • Fredonia is located in Lexington County
    • Batesburg - Leesville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Batesburg - Leesville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batesburg - Leesville
      • Batesburg - Leesville is located in Lexington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,402 people
    • Batesburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Leesville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Swansea
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Clubhouse Crossroads
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clubhouse Crossroads
      • Clubhouse Crossroads is located in Lexington County
    • Red Bank
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Bank have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
      • Red Bank is located in Lexington County
    • Gaston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaston
      • Gaston is located in Lexington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,712 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gaston <2>
    • Glenn Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenn Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Village
      • Glenn Village is located in Lexington County
    • Lexington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Orangeburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaffee, with the one closest to Chaffee listed first.
    • Springfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Woodford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
      • Woodford is located in Orangeburg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
    • North
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North
      • North is located in Orangeburg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 699 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North <2>
    • Livingston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Livingston have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
      • Livingston is located in Orangeburg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 124 people
    • Neeses
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Boiling Spring ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boiling Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring
      • Boiling Spring is located in Orangeburg County
    • Norway
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Bolen Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bolen Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolen Town
      • Bolen Town is located in Orangeburg County
  • Richland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaffee, with the one closest to Chaffee listed first.
    • Arthurtown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthurtown
      • Arthurtown is located in Richland County
    • Columbia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hollywood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
      • Hollywood is located in Richland County
    • Saint Andrews
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Andrews have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Andrews
      • Saint Andrews is located in Richland County
    • Ballentine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Lake Murray of Richland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Valencia Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valencia Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valencia Heights
      • Valencia Heights is located in Richland County
  • Saluda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chaffee, with the one closest to Chaffee listed first.
    • Ridge Spring
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ward
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Saluda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Chaffee ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chaffee.

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 Chaffee covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Bethcar Baptist Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tyler Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tyler Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tyler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Herman Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Herman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Herman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Black Creek Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Black Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Black Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Scofield Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Scofield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Scofield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hall Town Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Courtney Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Courtney Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Courtney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Goss Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goss Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goss Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hooker Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hooker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hooker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (291 more) ...
    • Bethlehem Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Davis Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Davis Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Davis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sawyer Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sawyer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sawyer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.

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

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

  • Seivern
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seivern
    • Seivern is located in Aiken County
  • Wagener
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Perry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Kitchings Mill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kitchings Mill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitchings Mill
    • Kitchings Mill is located in Aiken County
    • Kitchings Mill has also been known as:
    • Kinchens Mill
  • Samaria
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Samaria have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samaria
    • Samaria is located in Lexington County
  • Salley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sawyerdale
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyerdale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyerdale
    • Sawyerdale is located in Orangeburg County
  • Springfield
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Monetta
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Summit
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
    • Summit is located in Lexington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 486 people
  • Fredonia
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fredonia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
    • Fredonia is located in Lexington County
  • Oakwood
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
    • Oakwood is located in Aiken County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Windsor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Leesville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Woodford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
      • Woodford is located in Orangeburg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people

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

Newspapers Published in Chaffee ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chaffee.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chaffee, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chaffee.

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 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 Chaffee:

The official website for Aiken County: www.aikencounty.net/

The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Chaffee, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 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.
<5>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.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Chaffee) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chaffee. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6974, Longitude: -81.4001       In this case, the coordinates for Chaffee have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025