RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Oscoda County >> Biggs Settlement >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Biggs Settlement is located in Oscoda 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 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)
      • Kneeland is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kneeland
    • Fairview
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mio
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Red Oak
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
    • Luzerne
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • McKinley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • McKinley is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley
  • 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)
      • Curtisville is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
    • 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)
      • Hubbard Lake is located in Alcona County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Lake
  • 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)
      • Flanders is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanders
  • 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)
      • Bucks is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks
    • Deerheart Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Deerheart Valley is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerheart Valley
    • Pere Cheney ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Pere Cheney is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pere Cheney
      • 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)
      • Skyline Village is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Village
    • 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)
      • Garland Village is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland Village
    • Lewiston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Vienna Junction
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Vienna Junction is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna Junction
    • Bigelow
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Bigelow is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
    • Atlanta
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Big Rock ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Big Rock is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
    • Vienna Corners
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Vienna Corners is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna Corners
    • 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)
      • Damon is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damon
    • Lupton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Rose City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • South Branch
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fayettes Corner ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Fayettes Corner is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayettes Corner
    • Campbells Corners
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Campbells Corners is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corners
    • Ogemaw Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Ogemaw Springs is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogemaw Springs
    • 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)
      • Hetherton is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetherton
    • Johannesburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lower Chub Landing ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Lower Chub Landing is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Chub Landing
    • Waters
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • 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)
      • Geels is located in Roscommon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geels
    • Roscommon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.

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 Biggs Settlement - one of the links might be able to help.

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)
  • Mio Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Weaver Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Comins Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Muskrat Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Lincoln B. Watson Grave
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Luzerne Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Indian Graves
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Long Lake Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • McKinley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Mooney Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (62 more) ...
    • Loud Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Union Corners Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Finnish Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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 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)
  • Red Oak
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
  • 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)
    • Damon is located in Ogemaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damon
  • Atlanta
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Big Rock ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Big Rock is located in Montmorency County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
  • Long Lake
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Hetherton
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Hetherton is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetherton
  • Pere Cheney ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Pere Cheney is located in Crawford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pere Cheney
    • Pere Cheney has also been known as:
    • Center Plains
    • Cheney
  • Bryant
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bryant is located in Alcona County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Roscommon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Helen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Campbells Corners
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Campbells Corners is located in Ogemaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbells Corners

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]<5>. 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 start 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 Biggs Settlement:

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Biggs Settlement, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Biggs Settlement) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.