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 Bad Axe (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 Bad Axe. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.
Bad Axe is located in Huron County and is the County Seat.
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 Huron County: Sanilac & Tuscola.
Below are the counties that are near Bad Axe. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bad Axe:
- Huron County (The home county of Bad Axe)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bad Axe, with the one closest to Bad Axe listed first.
- Filion
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Filion is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filion
- Rapson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rapson is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapson
- Ubly
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Kinde
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Elkton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Pinnebog
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pinnebog is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnebog
- Redman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Redman is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redman
- Berne
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Berne is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
- Pigeon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Port Crescent ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Port Crescent is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Crescent
- Ruth
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Owendale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Sanilac County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bad Axe, with the one closest to Bad Axe listed first.
- Tyre
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Tyre is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyre
- Minden City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Argyle
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Argyle is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- Palms
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Palms is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palms
- Forestville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Forestville is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Decker
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Decker is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decker
- Hemans
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Hemans is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemans
- Snover
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Snover is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snover
- Deckerville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- McGregor
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- McGregor is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGregor
- Richmondville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Richmondville is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmondville
- Elmer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Elmer is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmer
- Tuscola County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bad Axe, with the one closest to Bad Axe listed first.
- Gagetown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cass City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Elmwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elmwood is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood
- Deford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Deford is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deford
- Colling
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Colling is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colling
- Wilmot
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Wilmot is located in Tuscola County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
- Unionville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Kingston
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Caro
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Akron
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bad Axe, see our County-by-County Page for Bad Axe.
Cemeteries Near Bad Axe ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bad Axe.
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 Bad Axe - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bad Axe covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bad Axe, with the one closest to Bad Axe listed first.
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacred Heart Cemetery
- The Sacred Heart Cemetery has also been known as:
- Sacred Heart RC Cemetery
- Colfax Twp. Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Colfax Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Bingham Twp. Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Verona Twp. Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the north of Ubly.
- The St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2148404 <2>
- Valley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Valley Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the north of Ubly.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1881 <2>
- Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- McTaggart Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- St. Columbkille Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (112 more) ...
- St. John's Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- McKay Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKay Cemetery
- The McKay Cemetery has also been known as:
- Souletown Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1049 <2>
- Riverside Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Riverside Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Elkton.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1504 <2>
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 Bad Axe had a population of 842 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Bad Axe had a population of 2,889 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bad Axe, with the one closest to Bad Axe listed first.
- Popple
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Popple is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popple
- Filion
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Filion is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filion
- Rapson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rapson is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapson
- Kinde
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Elkton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Tyre
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Tyre is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyre
- Pinnebog
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pinnebog is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnebog
- Parisville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Parisville is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parisville
- Redman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Redman is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redman
- Cumber
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Cumber is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumber
- Wickware
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Wickware is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickware
- Freidberger
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Freidberger is located in Sanilac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freidberger
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Berne
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Berne is located in Huron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
- Pigeon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Owendale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bad Axe. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bad Axe.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bad Axe ...
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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bad Axe.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bad Axe. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bad Axe and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bad Axe.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Bad Axe.
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 Bad Axe:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Huron County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Sanilac County
- Tuscola County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Michigan
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 from Point A (ie- Bad Axe) 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 Bad Axe, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |