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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 Ashland (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 Ashland. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Ashland is located in Alpena County.

To see how the shape of Michigan's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Alpena County: Alcona, Montmorency, Oscoda & Presque Isle.

Below are the counties that are near Ashland. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ashland:

  • Alpena County     (The home county of Ashland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashland, with the one closest to Ashland listed first.
    • Cathro
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cathro is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cathro
    • Alpena
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Alpena Junction
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Alpena Junction is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena Junction
    • Long Rapids
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Long Rapids is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Rapids
    • McHarg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • McHarg is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McHarg
    • Herron
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Herron is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herron
    • Lachine
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Flanders
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Flanders is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanders
    • Ossineke
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Hubbard Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Alcona County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashland, with the one closest to Ashland listed first.
    • Spruce
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Black River
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Lost Lake Woods
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Lost Lake Woods is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Lake Woods
    • Hubbard Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Hubbard Lake is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Lake
  • Montmorency County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashland, with the one closest to Ashland listed first.
    • Royston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Royston is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royston
    • Hillman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Presque Isle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashland, with the one closest to Ashland listed first.
    • Bell ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Bell is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
    • Leroy
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Leroy is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leroy
    • Presque Isle
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Polaski
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Polaski is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polaski
    • Posen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Posen is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Posen <1>
    • Liske
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Liske is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liske
    • Hagensville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Hagensville is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagensville
    • Metz
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Metz is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metz
    • Calcite
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Calcite is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcite
    • Rogers City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hawks
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Hawks is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawks
    • Moltke
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Moltke is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moltke

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ashland, see our County-by-County Page for Ashland.

Cemeteries Near Ashland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ashland.

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 Ashland - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ashland covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ashland, with the one closest to Ashland listed first.

  • Bell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cathro Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Presque Isle Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Alpena.
    • The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Alpena Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #474 <2>
  • Grace Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Hebrew Benevolent Society Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Cross Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Holy Cross Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Alpena.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #742 <2>
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • St. Paul Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • St. Casimir's Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Leer Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (35 more) ...
    • Long Rapids Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Wilson Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Herron St. Rose's Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)

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>

While we didn't find Ashland in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ashland.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Ashland, with the one closest to Ashland listed first.

  • Bell ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bell is located in Presque Isle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
  • Bolton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Bolton is located in Alpena County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
  • Presque Isle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Alpena
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Posen
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Posen is located in Presque Isle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posen
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Posen <1>
  • Long Rapids
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Long Rapids is located in Alpena County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Rapids
  • Flanders
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Flanders is located in Alpena County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanders
  • Hagensville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Hagensville is located in Presque Isle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagensville
  • Ossineke
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Rogers City
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillman
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Hubbard Lake
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Black River
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ashland. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ashland.

Newspapers Published in Ashland ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ashland.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ashland, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ashland.

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 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 Ashland:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ashland) 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 Ashland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.