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 Chancetown (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 Chancetown. 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 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.
Chancetown is located in Accomack 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 Accomack County: Somerset (MD), Lancaster, Middlesex, Northampton & Northumberland.
Below are the counties that are near Chancetown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Chancetown:
- Accomack County (The home county of Chancetown)
- The following are listed by their distance from Chancetown, with the one closest to Chancetown listed first.
- Locustville
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Locust Mount
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Locust Mount is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Mount
- Wachapreague
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Melfa
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Keller
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Onley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Tasley
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Painter
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Accomac
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Accomac is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Accomac
- Population from the 2020 Census: 482 people
- Crockett Town
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Crockett Town is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett Town
- Onancock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Greenbush
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Greenbush is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
- Cats Bridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cats Bridge is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cats Bridge
- Northampton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chancetown, with the one closest to Chancetown listed first.
- Exmore
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Wardtown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wardtown is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardtown
- Nassawadox
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jamesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Jamesville is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
- Marionville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Marionville is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marionville
- Pleasant Cove Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Cove Village is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Cove Village
- Birdsnest
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sheps End
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sheps End is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheps End
- Bridgetown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bridgetown is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgetown
- Machipongo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Eastville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Pat Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pat Town is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pat Town
- Cheriton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Somerset County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Chancetown, with the one closest to Chancetown listed first.
- Lawsonia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Lawsonia is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonia
- Crisfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Daugherty Town
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Daugherty Town is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daugherty Town
- Tulls Corner
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Tulls Corner is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulls Corner
- Annemessix Towne ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Annemessix Towne is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annemessix Towne
- Rehobeth
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Tylerton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kingston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Kingston is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Ewell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Rhodes Point
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Rhodes Point is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodes Point
- Smith Island
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Smith Island is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Island
- Worcester County (MD)
- Pocomoke City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Pocomoke City is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocomoke City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,095 people
- Former names for Pocomoke City:
- New Town
- Stevens Landing
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pocomoke City <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Chancetown, see our County-by-County Page for Chancetown.
Cemeteries Near Chancetown ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chancetown.
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 Chancetown - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Chancetown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Chancetown, with the one closest to Chancetown listed first.
- Martin/Hatton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin/Hatton
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Martin/Hatton is located outside and to the west of Melfa.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2258639 <2>
- Joynes Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Holly Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Fairlawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Fairview Lawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Lawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Fairview Lawn Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Onancock.
- Onancock Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Major Doughty Gravesite
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Edge Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- McLane Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Pungoteague Community Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Belle Haven Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Phillips Place Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (34 more) ...
- Liberty Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Bloxom Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Wessells Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Chancetown in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Chancetown.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Chancetown, with the one closest to Chancetown listed first.
- Locust Mount
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Locust Mount is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Mount
- Wachapreague
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Locustville
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Trower
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Trower is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trower
- Melfa
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Keller
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Onley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Daugherty
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Daugherty is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daugherty
- Savageville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Savageville is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savageville
- Tasley
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Painter
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mappsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mappsburg is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mappsburg
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Onancock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pungoteague
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Cashville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cashville is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Chancetown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Chancetown.
Newspapers Published in Chancetown ...
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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chancetown.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chancetown, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chancetown.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Chancetown:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Accomack County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Northampton County
- Somerset County
- Worcester County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Chancetown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Chancetown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |