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 Westchester (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 Westchester. 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.
Cemeteries Near Westchester ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Westchester.
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 Westchester covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Westchester, with the one closest to Westchester listed first.
- Blandford Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Eastview Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Rod-of Sholom Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Brith Achim Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- St. Joseph's RC Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph's RC Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Joseph's RC Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Petersburg.
- The St. Joseph's RC Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Josephs Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1968061 <1>
- Little Church Street Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Peoples Memorial Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peoples Memorial Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Peoples Memorial Cemetery is located in Petersburg.
- The Peoples Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
- Providence Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2192025 <1>
- Wilkerson Memorial Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Southlawn Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Ettrick Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ettrick Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ettrick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Dinwiddie Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dinwiddie Memorial Park
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Dinwiddie Memorial Park is a large cemetery that is located
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #50042 <1>
- Continue List (270 more) ...
- St. Johns Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Poplar Grove National Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Poplar Grove National Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Poplar Grove National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Union Branch Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Branch Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Branch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<3>
While we didn't find Westchester in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Westchester.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Westchester, with the one closest to Westchester listed first.
- Pembroke
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pembroke have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pembroke
- Pembroke is located in Petersburg City
- Ettrick
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Matoaca
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoaca
- Matoaca is located in Chesterfield County
- Walthall
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walthall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walthall
- Walthall is located in Chesterfield County
- Derby ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Derby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
- Derby is located in Prince George County
- Burgess
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burgess have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgess
- Burgess is located in Dinwiddie County
- Templeton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Templeton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Templeton
- Templeton is located in Prince George County
- Sutherland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sutherland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutherland
- Sutherland is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sutherland <4>
- Chester
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Disputanta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Disputanta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Disputanta
- Disputanta is located in Prince George County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Disputanta <4>
- Bermuda Hundred ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bermuda Hundred. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bermuda Hundred
- Bermuda Hundred is located in Chesterfield County
- Rowanta
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rowanta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowanta
- Rowanta is located in Dinwiddie County
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Carson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson
- Carson is located in Dinwiddie County
- Shirley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shirley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Shirley is located in Charles City County
- Meadowville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowville
- Meadowville is located in Chesterfield County
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Westchester. See our List of 1890's Communities around Westchester.
Newspapers Published in Westchester ...
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 129 newspapers that have been published in the area around Westchester.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Westchester, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Westchester.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Westchester:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Westchester. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> | 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. |
<2> | 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. |
<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 Westchester, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
<4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
<5> | 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. |
<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- Westchester) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Westchester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2079, Longitude: -77.3786 In this case, the coordinates for Westchester have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |