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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 Chief Lake (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 Chief Lake. 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 Chief Lake ...

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 Chief Lake: Chief Lk.

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.

Chief Lake is located in Manistee 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 Manistee County: Benzie, Grand Traverse, Lake, Mason & Wexford.

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

  • Manistee County     (The home county of Chief Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chief Lake, with the one closest to Chief Lake listed first.
    • Norwalk
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Norwalk. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwalk
      • Norwalk is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Norwalk
      • From Chief Lake to Norwalk
    • Kaleva
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kaleva have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaleva
      • Kaleva is located in Manistee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 466 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kaleva <3>
    • Bear Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Brethren
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brethren have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brethren
      • Brethren is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brethren <3>
    • Onekama
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama
      • Onekama is located in Manistee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onekama <3>
    • Douglas
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
      • Douglas is located in Manistee County
    • Udell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Malcolm
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Malcolm. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malcolm
      • Malcolm is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Malcolm
      • From Chief Lake to Malcolm
    • Henry ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Henry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Henry is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Henry
      • From Chief Lake to Henry
    • Wellston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Eastlake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Parkdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Arcadia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Benzie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chief Lake, with the one closest to Chief Lake listed first.
    • Thompsonville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Nessen City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Griner Station
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Griner Station. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griner Station
      • Griner Station is located in Benzie County
      • Griner Station has also been known as:
      • Print
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Griner Station
      • From Chief Lake to Griner Station
    • Benzonia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Wallin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Beulah
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beulah have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
      • Beulah is located in Benzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beulah <3>
    • Elberta
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Frankfort
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frankfort have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
      • Frankfort is located in Benzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,289 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frankfort <3>
    • Honor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Honor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honor
      • Honor is located in Benzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 331 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Honor <3>
    • Platte River
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Bendon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bendon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bendon
      • Bendon is located in Benzie County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bendon
      • From Chief Lake to Bendon
    • Aral ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Aral. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aral
      • Aral is located in Benzie County
      • Aral has also been known as:
      • Otter Creek
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Aral
      • From Chief Lake to Aral
    • Lake Ann
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Ann have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ann
      • Lake Ann is located in Benzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 271 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Ann <3>
  • Grand Traverse County
  • Lake County
  • Leelanau County
    • Jacktown ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jacktown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacktown
      • Jacktown is located in Leelanau County
      • Jacktown has also been known as:
      • Osborn
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jacktown
      • From Chief Lake to Jacktown
  • Mason County
  • Wexford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chief Lake, with the one closest to Chief Lake listed first.
    • Bagnall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bagnall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagnall
      • Bagnall is located in Wexford County
    • Yuma
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yuma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuma
      • Yuma is located in Wexford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yuma
      • From Chief Lake to Yuma
    • Glengary
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Harrietta
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrietta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietta
      • Harrietta is located in Wexford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrietta <3>
    • Mesick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mesick have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesick
      • Mesick is located in Wexford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesick <3>
    • Sherman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hoxeyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxeyville
      • Hoxeyville is located in Wexford County
      • Hoxeyville has also been known as:
      • Clay Hill
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hoxeyville
      • From Chief Lake to Hoxeyville
    • Buckley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Boon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boon
      • Boon is located in Wexford County
    • Meauwataka
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Baxter
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Baxter. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baxter
      • Baxter is located in Wexford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Baxter
      • From Chief Lake to Baxter

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

Cemeteries Near Chief Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chief Lake.

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 Chief Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Pleasantview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasantview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasantview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old School House Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bear Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bear Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bear Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Norwalk Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norwalk Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norwalk Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brethren Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brethren Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brethren Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Miller Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miller Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dickson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dickson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dickson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Twp. Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Twp. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (95 more) ...
    • Onekama Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Onekama Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Onekama Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Onekama Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Onekama Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Onekama Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Springdale Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Springdale Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Springdale 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Chief Lake had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Bear Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Onekama
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama
    • Onekama is located in Manistee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onekama <3>
  • Onekama Junction
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama Junction
    • Onekama Junction is located in Manistee County
  • Pierport
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierport
    • Pierport is located in Manistee County
  • Pleasanton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasanton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasanton
    • Pleasanton is located in Manistee County
  • Eastlake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Marilla
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marilla have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marilla
    • Marilla is located in Manistee County
  • Filer City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Stronach
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stronach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stronach
    • Stronach is located in Manistee County
  • Copemish
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Arcadia
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Manistee
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Chief Lake ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chief Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chief Lake, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chief Lake.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Chief Lake:

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

The official website for Manistee County: www.manistee.com/~edo/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>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 Chief Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Chief Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chief Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3476, Longitude: -86.1019       In this case, the coordinates for Chief Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025