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 Batavia Center (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 Batavia Center. 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 Batavia Center ...
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 Batavia Center: Batavia Ctr. (or less commonly used: Batavia Cen., Batavia Cent. or Batavia Cntr.)
You might see Batavia Centre instead of Batavia Center.
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.
For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.
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 hospitals and doctors 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.
Batavia Center is located in Branch 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 Branch County: LaGrange (IN), Steuben (IN), Calhoun, Hillsdale & Saint Joseph.
Below are the counties that are near Batavia Center. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Batavia Center:
- Branch County (The home county of Batavia Center)
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Batavia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Batavia is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batavia
- Matteson
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Matteson is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matteson
- Hodunk
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Hodunk is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodunk
- Coldwater
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hatmaker
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Hatmaker is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatmaker
- Bronson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Trailtree Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Trailtree Village is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trailtree Village
- Sherwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sherwood is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
- Union City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Girard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Girard is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard
- Gilead
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Gilead is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
- Fisher
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Fisher is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
- Canada Shores
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Canada Shores is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canada Shores
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Burlington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Burlington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
- Athens
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Tekonsha
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- East Leroy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- East Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leroy
- Joppa
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Joppa is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
- Sonoma
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
- West Leroy
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
- Homer
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Beadle Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Beadle Lake is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beadle Lake
- Ceresco
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Ceresco is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceresco
- Marshall
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Battle Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Brownlee Park
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Brownlee Park is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee Park
- Hillsdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Allen
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Litchfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Montgomery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Montgomery is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery
- Population from the 2020 Census: 329 people
- Reading
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Camden
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jonesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Mosherville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Mosherville is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosherville
- Hillsdale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Steamburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Steamburg is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steamburg
- Frontier
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Frontier is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier
- Osseo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- North Adams
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- North Adams is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Adams
- Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Concord
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hanover
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Kalamazoo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Fulton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fulton is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Climax
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Climax is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Scotts
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Vicksburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Pavillion Center
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
- Galesburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Augusta
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Schoolcraft
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Portage
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Joseph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Colon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Colon is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <1>
- Factoryville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Factoryville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factoryville
- Burr Oak
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fairfax
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Fairfax is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
- Leonidas
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Findley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Findley is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Findley
- Fawn River
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Fawn River is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawn River
- Mendon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Nottawa
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Wasepi
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Wasepi is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasepi
- Sturgis
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Centreville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
- Parkville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
- DeKalb County (IN)
- Ashley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- LaGrange County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Greenfield Mills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Greenfield Mills is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Mills
- Brighton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Brighton is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
- Mongo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Brushy Prairie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Brushy Prairie is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy Prairie
- Howe
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Plato
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Plato is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato
- Stroh
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Stroh is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stroh
- LaGrange
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Scott
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Scott is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott
- Seyberts
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Seyberts is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyberts
- Gravel Beach
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Gravel Beach is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Beach
- Valentine
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Valentine is located in LaGrange County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine
- Shipshewana
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Steuben County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Jamestown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Jamestown is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Orland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Fremont
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ray
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ray is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray
- Clear Lake
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Clear Lake is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
- Angola
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- York
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- York is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
- Pleasant Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Lake is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
- Hudson
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Russels Point
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Russels Point is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russels Point
- Alvarado
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Alvarado is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
- Hamilton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hamilton is located in Steuben County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,595 people
- Williams County (OH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Northwest
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Northwest is located in Williams County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwest
- Columbia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Columbia is located in Williams County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
- Cooney
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cooney is located in Williams County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooney
- Ainger
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Ainger is located in Williams County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ainger
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Batavia Center, see our County-by-County Page for Batavia Center.
Cemeteries Near Batavia Center ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Batavia Center.
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 Batavia Center - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Batavia Center covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Batavia Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- York Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Grove Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Coldwater.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1244 <2>
- Hurley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Matteson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bronson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Snow Prairie Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Lockwood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Card Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ammerman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (337 more) ...
- Morse Street Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- West Prairie Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Haight Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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.<3>
While we didn't find Batavia Center in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Batavia Center.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Batavia Center, with the one closest to Batavia Center listed first.
- Batavia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Batavia is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batavia
- Matteson
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Matteson is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matteson
- Hodunk
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Hodunk is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hodunk
- Bronson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hatmaker
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Hatmaker is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatmaker
- Coldwater
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Bethel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bethel is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Sherwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sherwood is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
- Girard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Girard is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard
- Union City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Gilead
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Gilead is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
- Colon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Colon is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <1>
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- East Gilead
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- East Gilead is located in Branch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gilead
- Athens
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Burlington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Burlington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Batavia Center. See our List of 1890's Communities around Batavia Center.
Newspapers Published in Batavia Center ...
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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Batavia Center.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Batavia Center, 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 Batavia Center.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Batavia Center:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Branch County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Calhoun County
- Hillsdale County
- Jackson County
- Kalamazoo County
- Saint Joseph County
- DeKalb County
- LaGrange County
- Steuben County
- Williams 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> | 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 Batavia Center, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Batavia Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |