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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 Battle Creek (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 Battle Creek. 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 Battle Creek ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Battle Creek: Battle Crk. (or less commonly used: Battle Ck. or Battle Cr.)

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 southwest 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 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.

Battle Creek is located in Calhoun County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Calhoun County: Barry, Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, Kalamazoo & Saint Joseph.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Battle Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Battle Creek.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olive Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Haskell Home Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haskell Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haskell Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Youngs Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Youngs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Youngs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holiday Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holiday Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holiday Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Reese Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reese Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reese Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunset Gardens Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Gardens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Gardens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Memorial Park Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Dubois Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dubois Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dubois Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Floral Lawn Memorial Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Floral Lawn Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Floral Lawn Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Covey Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Covey Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Covey Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (298 more) ...
    • Beckley Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beckley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beckley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Newbre Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Morgan Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morgan Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morgan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Battle Creek had a population of 13,197 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Battle Creek had a population of 50,799 people.

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

  • Sonoma
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sonoma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
    • Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sonoma
    • From Battle Creek to Sonoma
  • Ceresco
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ceresco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceresco
    • Ceresco is located in Calhoun County
  • Bedford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bedford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford
    • Bedford is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bedford <2>
  • West Leroy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Joppa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Climax
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • East Leroy
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Leroy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leroy
    • East Leroy is located in Calhoun County
  • Assyria
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Assyria have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assyria
    • Assyria is located in Barry County
  • Pine Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Creek
    • Pine Creek is located in Calhoun County
  • Marshall
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
    • Marshall is located in Calhoun County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,923 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marshall <2>
  • Banfield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lacey
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lacey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
    • Lacey is located in Barry County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Bellevue
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellevue have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
      • Bellevue is located in Eaton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,299 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellevue <2>
    • Yorkville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yorkville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
      • Yorkville is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yorkville
      • From Battle Creek to Yorkville
    • Galesburg
      (12 miles [19.3 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 Battle Creek. See our List of 1890's Communities around Battle Creek.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Battle Creek ...

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 95 newspapers that have been published in the area around Battle Creek.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Battle Creek. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Battle Creek and those printed in the larger area surrounding Battle Creek.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6> of Battle Creek.

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 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 Battle Creek:

The official website for Battle Creek: www.battlecreek.org/

The official website for Calhoun County: www.calhoun-mi.com/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 Battle Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Battle Creek) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Battle Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3167, Longitude: -85.1799    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025