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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 Biggs Settlement (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 Biggs Settlement. 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 Biggs Settlement ...

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.

While the name of this community is Biggs Settlement, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Biggs Settlement may originally have been Bigg's Settlement.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Biggs Settlement might be written as Bigg Settlement.

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 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.

Biggs Settlement is located in Oscoda 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 Oscoda County: Alcona, Alpena, Crawford, Iosco, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Otsego & Roscommon.

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

  • Oscoda County     (The home county of Biggs Settlement)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Kneeland
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kneeland
      • Kneeland is located in Oscoda County
    • Fairview
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairview <3>
    • Mio
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Red Oak
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
      • Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
    • Luzerne
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • McKinley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McKinley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley
      • McKinley is located in Oscoda County
  • Alcona County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Curran
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Curtisville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
      • Curtisville is located in Alcona County
    • Glennie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Barton City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Hubbard Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Lake
      • Hubbard Lake is located in Alcona County
  • Alpena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Hubbard Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Flanders
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanders
      • Flanders is located in Alpena County
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Bucks
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bucks. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks
      • Bucks is located in Crawford County
    • Deerheart Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerheart Valley
      • Deerheart Valley is located in Crawford County
    • Pere Cheney ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pere Cheney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pere Cheney
      • Pere Cheney is located in Crawford County
      • Pere Cheney has also been known as:
      • Center Plains
      • Cheney
    • Grayling
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Skyline Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skyline Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Village
      • Skyline Village is located in Crawford County
    • Frederic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Iosco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Long Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Hale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Montmorency County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Garland Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garland Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland Village
      • Garland Village is located in Montmorency County
    • Lewiston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bigelow
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bigelow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
      • Bigelow is located in Montmorency County
    • Atlanta
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Big Rock ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Big Rock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
      • Big Rock is located in Montmorency County
    • Vienna Corners
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vienna Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna Corners
      • Vienna Corners is located in Montmorency County
    • Hillman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Ogemaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Damon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damon
      • Damon is located in Ogemaw County
    • Lupton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Rose City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rose City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
      • Rose City is located in Ogemaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 629 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rose City <3>
    • South Branch
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fayettes Corner ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayettes Corner
      • Fayettes Corner is located in Ogemaw County
    • Campbells Corners
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Campbells Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corners
      • Campbells Corners is located in Ogemaw County
    • Ogemaw Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ogemaw Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogemaw Springs
      • Ogemaw Springs is located in Ogemaw County
    • West Branch
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Otsego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Hetherton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hetherton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetherton
      • Hetherton is located in Otsego County
    • Johannesburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johannesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johannesburg
      • Johannesburg is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johannesburg <3>
    • Lower Chub Landing ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lower Chub Landing. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Chub Landing
      • Lower Chub Landing is located in Otsego County
    • Waters
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Waters. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters
      • Waters is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waters <3>
  • Roscommon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Biggs Settlement, with the one closest to Biggs Settlement listed first.
    • Geels
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Geels. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geels
      • Geels is located in Roscommon County
    • Roscommon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roscommon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscommon
      • Roscommon is located in Roscommon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,044 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roscommon <3>
    • Saint Helen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Biggs Settlement ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Biggs Settlement.

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 Biggs Settlement covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Kittle Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kittle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kittle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mio Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mio Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mio Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Weaver Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weaver Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weaver Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Comins Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Comins Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Comins Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
  • Muskrat Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Muskrat Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Muskrat Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lincoln B. Watson Grave
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln B. Watson Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln B. Watson Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Luzerne Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Luzerne Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Luzerne Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Graves
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Graves
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Graves have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Long Lake Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Long Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McKinley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McKinley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McKinley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mooney Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mooney Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mooney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (62 more) ...
    • Loud Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Loud Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Loud Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Union Corners Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Corners Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Finnish Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finnish Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finnish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<6>

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

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

  • Mio
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Fairview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Fairview is located in Oscoda County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairview <3>
  • Red Oak
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
    • Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
  • Luzerne
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Curran
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Damon
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damon
    • Damon is located in Ogemaw County
  • Atlanta
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Big Rock ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Big Rock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
    • Big Rock is located in Montmorency County
  • Long Lake
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Hetherton
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hetherton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetherton
    • Hetherton is located in Otsego County
  • Pere Cheney ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pere Cheney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pere Cheney
    • Pere Cheney is located in Crawford County
    • Pere Cheney has also been known as:
    • Center Plains
    • Cheney
  • Bryant
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bryant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
    • Bryant is located in Alcona County
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Roscommon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roscommon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscommon
      • Roscommon is located in Roscommon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,044 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roscommon <3>
    • Saint Helen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Campbells Corners
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Campbells Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corners
      • Campbells Corners is located in Ogemaw County

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

Newspapers Published in Biggs Settlement ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Biggs Settlement.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Biggs Settlement, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Biggs Settlement.

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 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 Biggs Settlement:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Biggs Settlement. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>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 Biggs Settlement, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>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- Biggs Settlement) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Biggs Settlement. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7103, Longitude: -84.1300       In this case, the coordinates for Biggs Settlement have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025