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 Bowmans Crossing (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 Bowmans Crossing. 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 Bowmans Crossing ...
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 Bowmans Crossing: Bowmans Xing.
- While the name of this community is Bowmans Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Bowmans Crossing may originally have been Bowman's Crossing.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Bowmans Crossing might be written as Bowman Crossing.
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 southwest 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 south.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Bowmans Crossing is located in Shenandoah County.
To see how the shape of Virginia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Shenandoah County: Frederick, Page, Rockingham, Warren & Hardy (WV).
Below are the counties that are near Bowmans Crossing. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bowmans Crossing:
- Shenandoah County (The home county of Bowmans Crossing)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Edinburg
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Willow Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Grove is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Grove
- Mount Jackson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Calvary
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Calvary is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary
- Columbia Furnace
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Columbia Furnace is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia Furnace
- Rinkerton
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Rinkerton is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rinkerton
- Woodstock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Clifton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Clifton is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Clifton
- Jerome
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jerome is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
- Seven Fountains
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Seven Fountains is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Fountains
- Maurertown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Basye - Bryce Mountain
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- New Market
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Fauquier County
- Petersburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Petersburg is located in Fauquier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
- Frederick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Middletown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain Falls
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain Falls is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Falls
- Tulip
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Tulip is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulip
- Fawcett Gap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fawcett Gap is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawcett Gap
- Stephens City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lehew
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Lehew is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lehew
- Rock Enon Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Rock Enon Springs is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Enon Springs
- Armel
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Armel is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armel
- Day - Mar Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Day - Mar Village is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day - Mar Village
- Echo Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Echo Village is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Village
- Harrisonburg City
- Harrisonburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Peola Mills
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Peola Mills is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peola Mills
- Syria
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Page County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Rileyville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Leaksville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Leaksville is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaksville
- Luray
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Kimball
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Kimball is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimball
- Stanley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Marksville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Marksville is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
- Shenandoah
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Verbena
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Verbena is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verbena
- Rappahannock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Rediviva
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Rediviva is located in Rappahannock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rediviva
- Sperryville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Chester Gap
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Chester Gap is located in Rappahannock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Gap
- Washington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Reager
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Reager is located in Rappahannock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reager
- Woodville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Woodville is located in Rappahannock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
- Scrabble
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Scrabble is located in Rappahannock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scrabble
- Slate Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Slate Mills is located in Rappahannock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Mills
- Rockingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Plains Mill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Plains Mill is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plains Mill
- Timberville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Tunis
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Tunis is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunis
- Broadway
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mayland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mayland is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayland
- Cootes Store
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Cootes Store is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cootes Store
- Daphna
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Daphna is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daphna
- Fulks Run
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Fulks Run is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulks Run
- Turleytown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Turleytown is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turleytown
- Lacey Spring
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lacey Spring is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey Spring
- Cherry Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cherry Grove is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
- Criders
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Criders is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Criders
- Linville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Linville is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linville
- Warren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Overall
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Overall is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overall
- Bentonville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Limeton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Limeton is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limeton
- Waterlick
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Waterlick is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterlick
- Front Royal
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Viscose City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Viscose City is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viscose City
- Reliance
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Reliance is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
- Royal Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Royal Village is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Village
- Riverton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Riverton is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
- Cedarville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cedarville is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Applewood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Applewood is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applewood
- Happy Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Happy Creek is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Creek
- Ashby
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ashby is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
- Grant County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Dorcas
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Dorcas is located in Grant County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorcas
- Seemly ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Seemly is located in Grant County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seemly
- Hampshire County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Yellow Spring
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Lehew
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Lehew is located in Hampshire County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lehew
- Sedan
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Sedan is located in Hampshire County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedan
- Hardy County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Lost City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Mathias
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Wardensville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Baker
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Baker is located in Hardy County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
- Inkerman
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Inkerman is located in Hardy County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inkerman
- Fort Run
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fort Run is located in Hardy County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Run
- Moorefield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Peru
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Peru is located in Hardy County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
- Durgon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Durgon is located in Hardy County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durgon
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bowmans Crossing, see our County-by-County Page for Bowmans Crossing.
Cemeteries Near Bowmans Crossing ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bowmans Crossing.
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 Bowmans Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bowmans Crossing covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Palmyra Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Cedarwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Union Forge Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Wakemans Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bethel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Our Soldiers Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Calvary Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Grace Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Jackson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Union Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Heltsley Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heltsley Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Heltsley Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<4> to the southwest of Columbia Furnace.
- Christ Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (256 more) ...
- St. Marys Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Furnace Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Massanutten Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
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 Bowmans Crossing in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bowmans Crossing.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bowmans Crossing, with the one closest to Bowmans Crossing listed first.
- Edinburg
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Hawkinstown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hawkinstown is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkinstown
- Hamburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Hamburg is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
- Willow Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Willow Grove is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Grove
- Mount Jackson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rinkerton
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Rinkerton is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rinkerton
- Columbia Furnace
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Columbia Furnace is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia Furnace
- Calvary
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Calvary is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary
- Woodstock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Luke
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Saint Luke is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Luke
- Mount Clifton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Clifton is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Clifton
- Carmel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Carmel is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmel
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Alonzaville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Alonzaville is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alonzaville
- Jerome
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jerome is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
- Forestville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Forestville is located in Shenandoah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bowmans Crossing. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bowmans Crossing.
Newspapers Published in Bowmans Crossing ...
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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bowmans Crossing.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bowmans Crossing, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bowmans Crossing.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Bowmans Crossing:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Shenandoah County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fauquier County
- Frederick County
- Harrisonburg City
- Madison County
- Page County
- Rappahannock County
- Rockingham County
- Warren County
- Grant County
- Hampshire County
- Hardy County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
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> | 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- Bowmans Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <5> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Bowmans Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |