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 Simonton Lake (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 Simonton Lake. 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 Simonton Lake ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Simonton Lake: Simonton Lk.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Simonton Lake is located in Elkhart County.
To see how the shape of Indiana's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Elkhart County: Kosciusko, LaGrange, Marshall, Noble, Saint Joseph, Cass (MI) & Saint Joseph (MI).
Below are the counties that are near Simonton Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Simonton Lake:
- Elkhart County (The home county of Simonton Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Elkhart
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Garden Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Garden Village is located in Elkhart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
- Bristol
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Dunlap
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Dunlap is located in Elkhart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
- Jamestown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Jamestown is located in Elkhart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Middlebury
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Goshen
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Southwest
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Southwest is located in Elkhart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest
- Wakarusa
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Foraker
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Foraker is located in Elkhart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foraker
- Bainter Town
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Bainter Town is located in Elkhart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainter Town
- New Paris
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Benton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Benton is located in Elkhart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
- Kosciusko County
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Milford Junction
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Milford Junction is located in Kosciusko County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford Junction
- Milford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Milford is located in Kosciusko County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,551 people
- Syracuse
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Wawasee Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wawasee Village is located in Kosciusko County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wawasee Village
- Leesburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Clunette
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Clunette is located in Kosciusko County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clunette
- LaGrange County
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Scott
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Scott is located in LaGrange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott
- Shipshewana
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Seyberts
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Seyberts is located in LaGrange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyberts
- Topeka
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Howe
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- LaGrange
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Bremen
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- La Paz
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- La Paz is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Paz
- Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
- Harris
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Harris is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
- Linkville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Linkville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linkville
- Noble County
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Ligonier
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cromwell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Joseph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Granger
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Osceola
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Mishawaka
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Georgetown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Georgetown is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Indian Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Indian Village is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
- Roseland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Roseland is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
- South Bend
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Gulivoire Park
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gulivoire Park is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulivoire Park
- Wyatt
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Nutwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Nutwood is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutwood
- Lakeville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Crumstown
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Crumstown is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crumstown
- Zeigler
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Zeigler is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zeigler
- Berrien County (MI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Niles
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Niles is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niles
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,093 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Niles <1>
- Berrien Center
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Buchanan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Bakertown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Bakertown is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakertown
- Berrien Springs
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Eau Claire
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Naomi
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Naomi is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
- Dayton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Dayton is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Hartman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hartman is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartman
- Shanghai Corners
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Shanghai Corners is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai Corners
- Galien
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Galien is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galien
- Population from the 2020 Census: 527 people
- Glendora
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Glendora is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendora
- Hills Corners
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Hills Corners is located in Berrien County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Corners
- Cass County (MI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Union
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Edwardsburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Brownsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Brownsville is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Cassopolis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Vandalia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Vandalia is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Penn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Penn is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
- Jones
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- La Grange
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- La Grange is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
- Corey
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Corey is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
- Pokagon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pokagon is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pokagon
- Wakelee
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Wakelee is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
- Sumnerville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sumnerville is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumnerville
- Dowagiac
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Kalamazoo County (MI)
- Schoolcraft
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Joseph County (MI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Mottville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Mottville is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mottville
- Constantine
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Fabius
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fabius is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fabius
- White Pigeon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Three Rivers
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bluff Beach
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Bluff Beach is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Beach
- Oakwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Oakwood is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
- Klingers
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Klingers is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klingers
- Chamberlain
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Chamberlain is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
- Centreville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
- Sturgis
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sturgis is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,803 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sturgis <1>
- Parkville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
- Nottawa
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Van Buren County (MI)
- The following are listed by their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Decatur
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Keeler
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Keeler is located in Van Buren County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeler
- Lawton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Lawton is located in Van Buren County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,796 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Simonton Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Simonton Lake.
Cemeteries Near Simonton Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Simonton Lake.
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 Simonton Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Simonton Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Five Points Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Gods Half Acre Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Carlton Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Adamsville Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Paradise Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Rice Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Rice Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Elkhart.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #86546 <2>
- Kessington Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Shaffer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- St. Vincent Depaul Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Grace Lawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Prairie Street Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rowe Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (300 more) ...
- Proctor Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Rinehart Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Plum Grove 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.<3>
While we didn't find Simonton Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Simonton Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Simonton Lake, with the one closest to Simonton Lake listed first.
- Adamsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Adamsville is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
- Former name for Adamsville:
- Sage's Mill
- Elkhart
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Union
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Edwardsburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Granger
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Osceola
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Bristol
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Brownsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Brownsville is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Williamsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Williamsville is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
- Dailey
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dailey is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dailey
- Mishawaka
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mottville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Mottville is located in Saint Joseph County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mottville
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Vandalia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Vandalia is located in Cass County (MI)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Cassopolis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Vistula
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Vistula is located in Elkhart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vistula
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Simonton Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Simonton Lake.
Newspapers Published in Simonton Lake ...
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 126 newspapers that have been published in the area around Simonton Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Simonton Lake, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Simonton Lake.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Simonton Lake:
- Websites specific to Indiana
- Pages specific to Elkhart County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Kosciusko County
- LaGrange County
- Marshall County
- Noble County
- Saint Joseph County
- Berrien County
- Cass County
- Kalamazoo County
- Saint Joseph County
- Van Buren County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Indiana
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 Simonton Lake, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Simonton Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |