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 Clayton (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 Clayton. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Clayton is located in Summers 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 Summers County: Giles (VA), Fayette, Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe & Raleigh.
Below are the counties that are near Clayton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Clayton:
- Summers County (The home county of Clayton)
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Riffe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Riffe is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riffe
- Lowell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lowell is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Talcott
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hilldale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hilldale is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Bargers Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bargers Springs is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bargers Springs
- New Richmond ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- New Richmond is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
- Bellepoint
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bellepoint is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint
- Buck
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Buck is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
- Brooklin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Brooklin is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin
- Hinton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Sandstone
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Forest Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Packs Ferry
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Spring Dale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Spring Dale is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Dale
- Meadow Bridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Meadow Bridge is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Bridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Bellwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Bellwood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
- Maywood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Maywood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maywood
- Quinnimont
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Quinnimont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnimont
- Prince
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Alaska ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Alaska is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- McKendree
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- McKendree is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
- Clifftop
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hilton Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hilton Village is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
- Red Ash ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Red Ash is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Ash
- Sewell Knob ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 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
(23 miles [37 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
- Greenbrier County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Alderson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Frazier
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Frazier is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazier
- Fort Spring
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Fort Spring is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Spring
- Vale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Vale is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
- Rockland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Rockland is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
- Ronceverte
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Fairlea
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Crawley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Lewisburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Rupert
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Kieffer
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kieffer is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kieffer
- Richlands
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Richlands is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richlands
- Rainelle
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Logan County
- Rich Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Rich Creek is located in Logan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Creek
- Mercer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Elgood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Elgood is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgood
- Athens
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Willowton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Willowton is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowton
- Oak Grove
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Grove is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Oakvale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Oakvale is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakvale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Creamery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Creamery is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creamery
- Wolfcreek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wolfcreek is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfcreek
- Wayside
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Wayside is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
- Union
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Union is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Population from the 2020 Census: 539 people
- Hillsdale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hillsdale is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Wikel
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Wikel is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wikel
- Assurance
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Assurance is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assurance
- Ballard
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Ballard is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard
- Hollywood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hollywood is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
- Peterstown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Nicholas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Peaser Junction ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Peaser Junction is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaser Junction
- Carl
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Carl is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
- Snow Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Snow Hill is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Runa
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Runa is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runa
- Raleigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Abraham
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Abraham is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abraham
- Grandview
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Royal ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Royal is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Shady Spring
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Clifftop
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Clifftop is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifftop
- Daniels
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Terry
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Terry is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Beaver
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Piney View
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Piney View is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney View
- Stanaford
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Stanaford is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanaford
- White Stick
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- White Stick is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Stick
- Raleigh
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Raleigh is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
- Tilden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Tilden is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilden
- Craig County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Captain
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Captain is located in Craig County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Captain
- Simmonsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Simmonsville is located in Craig County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmonsville
- Giles County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Kire
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Kire is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kire
- Lurich
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Lurich is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lurich
- Rich Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Glen Lyn
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Glen Lyn is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Lyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
- Bluff City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bluff City is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Narrows
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Pearisburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Mountain Lake
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain Lake is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Lake
- Pembroke
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Shumate
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Shumate is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumate
- Eggleston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Clayton, see our County-by-County Page for Clayton.
Cemeteries Near Clayton ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clayton.
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 Clayton - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Clayton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Pence Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Alderson Fletcher Addition Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Upland Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bennett Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Hicks - Swell Mtn. Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks - Swell Mtn. Cemetery
- The Hicks - Swell Mtn. Cemetery has also been known as:
- Hicks Cemetery
- Hix Cemetery
- Greenbrier Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Wayside UMC Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside UMC Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Wayside UMC Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the northeast of Wayside.
- The Wayside UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
- Wayside Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80240 <2>
- Suttle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suttle
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Suttle is located 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the west of Lewisburg.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2342096 <2>
- Hilltop Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Huffman Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hanger Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Continue List (159 more) ...
- Bragg Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Richmond Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Meadows Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Clayton had a population of 18 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Clayton, with the one closest to Clayton listed first.
- Santifee ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Santifee is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santifee
- Riffe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Riffe is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riffe
- Lowell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lowell is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Alderson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Talcott
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hilldale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hilldale is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Wiggins
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wiggins is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiggins
- Bargers Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bargers Springs is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bargers Springs
- Wolfcreek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wolfcreek is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfcreek
- Blaker Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Blaker Mills is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaker Mills
- Grassy Meadows
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Grassy Meadows is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Meadows
- Green Sulphur Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Johnson Crossroads
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Johnson Crossroads is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Crossroads
- Elton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Elton is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elton
- Brooks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Brooks is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Clayton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Clayton.
Newspapers Published in Clayton ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clayton.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clayton, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clayton.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Clayton:
- Websites specific to West Virginia
- Pages specific to Summers County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fayette County
- Greenbrier County
- Logan County
- Mercer County
- Monroe County
- Nicholas County
- Raleigh County
- Craig County
- Giles 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Clayton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Clayton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |