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 Backus (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 Backus. 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.
Backus is located in Fayette County.
To see how the shape of West 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 Fayette County: Greenbrier, Kanawha, Nicholas, Raleigh & Summers.
Below are the counties that are near Backus. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Backus:
- Fayette County (The home county of Backus)
- The following are listed by their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- Quinnimont
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Quinnimont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnimont
- Prince
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Alaska ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Alaska is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- McKendree
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- McKendree is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
- Meadow Bridge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Meadow Bridge is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Bridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Sewell Knob ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sewell Knob is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell Knob
- Sewell Knob has also been known as:
- Swell Knob
- Stonecliff ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Stonecliff is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonecliff
- Stonecliff has also been known as:
- Stone Cliff
- Newlyn ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Newlyn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlyn
- Spring Dale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Spring Dale is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Dale
- East Sewell ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- East Sewell is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sewell
- Bellwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bellwood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
- Rush Run ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rush Run is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush Run
- Thurmond
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Greenbrier County
- The following are listed by their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- Vale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Vale is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
- Rainelle
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- McRoss
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- McRoss is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McRoss
- Charmco
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hines
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hines is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hines
- Rupert
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Crawley
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Orient Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Orient Hill is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Hill
- Crichton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Crichton is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crichton
- Kieffer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Kieffer is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kieffer
- Quinwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Quinwood is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Alderson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Frazier
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Frazier is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazier
- Kanawha County
- The following are listed by their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- Carbon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Carbon is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Acme
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Acme is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Eskdale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Eskdale is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskdale
- Mercer County
- Athens
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- Creamery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Creamery is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creamery
- Wayside
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Wayside is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
- Wolfcreek
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Wolfcreek is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfcreek
- Ballard
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ballard is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard
- Assurance
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Assurance is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assurance
- Union
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Union is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Population from the 2020 Census: 539 people
- Wikel
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wikel is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wikel
- Nicholas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- Runa
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Runa is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runa
- Snow Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Snow Hill is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Carl
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Carl is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
- Peaser Junction ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Peaser Junction is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaser Junction
- Albion ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Albion is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Morrison ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Morrison is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrison
- Keslers Cross Lanes
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Keslers Cross Lanes is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keslers Cross Lanes
- Beech Glen
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Beech Glen is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Glen
- Tipton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Tipton is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tipton
- Odell Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Odell Town is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell Town
- Odell Town has also been known as:
- Odell
- Tolbert
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Tolbert is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolbert
- Nettie
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dixie
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Dixie is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
- Raleigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- Abraham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Abraham is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abraham
- Royal ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Royal is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Grandview
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Terry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Terry is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Piney View
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Piney View is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney View
- Clifftop
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Clifftop is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifftop
- Stanaford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Stanaford is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanaford
- White Stick
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- White Stick is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Stick
- Beaver
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Daniels
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bradley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Bradley is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
- Skelton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Skelton is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skelton
- Beckley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Summers County
- The following are listed by their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- New Richmond ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Richmond is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
- Sandstone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Brooklin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Brooklin is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin
- Hinton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Jumping Branch
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Jumping Branch is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch
- Nimitz
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Nimitz is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimitz
- Bellepoint
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Bellepoint is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint
- Packs Ferry
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry
- Hilldale
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Hilldale is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Talcott
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Buck
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Buck is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
- Lowell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Lowell is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Riffe
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Riffe is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riffe
- Wyoming County
- Mullens
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Backus, see our County-by-County Page for Backus.
Cemeteries Near Backus ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Backus.
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 Backus - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Backus covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- Beechnut Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechnut Cemetery
- The Beechnut Cemetery has also been known as:
- Charles Harrah Cemetery
- Harrah Cemetery
- Jim Harrah Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2608668 <2>
- Goddard Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- New Salem Baptist Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Layland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Layland Cemetery
- The Layland Cemetery has also been known as:
- Chestnut Knob Church Cemetery
- Goodson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Royal Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- William Kidwell Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for William Kidwell Cemetery
- The William Kidwell Cemetery has also been known as:
- Kidwell Cemetery
- Anderson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- St. Colmans Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Richmond Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Patton Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Plumley Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (275 more) ...
- Bragg Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wickline Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Shuck Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<3>
While we didn't find Backus in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Backus.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Backus, with the one closest to Backus listed first.
- Glade
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Glade is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
- Quinnimont
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Quinnimont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnimont
- Crickmer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Crickmer is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crickmer
- Prince
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Grandview
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Alaska ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Alaska is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- McKendree
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- McKendree is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
- New Richmond ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Richmond is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
- Claremont
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Claremont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claremont
- Sandstone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fire Creek ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Fire Creek is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fire Creek
- Stonecliff ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Stonecliff is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonecliff
- Stonecliff has also been known as:
- Stone Cliff
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Crow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Crow is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow
- Beury
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Beury is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beury
- East Sewell ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- East Sewell is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sewell
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Backus. See our List of 1890's Communities around Backus.
Newspapers Published in Backus ...
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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Backus.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Backus, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Backus.
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 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 Backus:
- Websites specific to West Virginia
- Pages specific to Fayette County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Greenbrier County
- Kanawha County
- Mercer County
- Monroe County
- Nicholas County
- Raleigh County
- Summers County
- Wyoming County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for West 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 Backus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Backus) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |