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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 Deckerville (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 Deckerville. 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.

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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Deckerville is located in Sanilac 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 Sanilac County: Huron, Lapeer, Saint Clair & Tuscola.

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

  • Sanilac County     (The home county of Deckerville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deckerville, with the one closest to Deckerville listed first.
    • McGregor
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McGregor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGregor
      • McGregor is located in Sanilac County
    • Palms
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palms
      • Palms is located in Sanilac County
    • Berkshire ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berkshire. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkshire
      • Berkshire is located in Sanilac County
    • Carsonville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Forester
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forester
      • Forester is located in Sanilac County
    • Richmondville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmondville
      • Richmondville is located in Sanilac County
    • Sandusky
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandusky
      • Sandusky is located in Sanilac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,494 people
      • Former name for Sandusky:
      • Sanilac Centre
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandusky <2>
    • Minden City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Argyle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
      • Argyle is located in Sanilac County
    • Forestville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
      • Forestville is located in Sanilac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Port Sanilac
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Sanilac have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Sanilac
      • Port Sanilac is located in Sanilac County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port Sanilac <2>
    • Elmer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmer
      • Elmer is located in Sanilac County
    • Applegate
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Huron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deckerville, with the one closest to Deckerville listed first.
    • Ruth
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
      • Ruth is located in Huron County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruth <2>
    • White Rock
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
      • White Rock is located in Huron County
    • Ubly
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Helena
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Helena. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
      • Helena is located in Huron County
    • Harbor Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Beach
      • Harbor Beach is located in Huron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,570 people
      • Former name for Harbor Beach:
      • Sand Beach
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harbor Beach <2>
    • Bad Axe
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bad Axe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bad Axe
      • Bad Axe is located in Huron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,889 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bad Axe <2>
    • Rapson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapson
      • Rapson is located in Huron County
    • Port Hope
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Redman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redman
      • Redman is located in Huron County
    • Filion
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filion
      • Filion is located in Huron County
    • Elkton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Owendale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Owendale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owendale
      • Owendale is located in Huron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Owendale <2>
  • Lapeer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deckerville, with the one closest to Deckerville listed first.
    • Brown City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Clifford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
      • Clifford is located in Lapeer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
    • Burnside
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Burnside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnside
      • Burnside is located in Lapeer County
    • Silverwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverwood
      • Silverwood is located in Lapeer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silverwood <2>
    • North Branch
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Saint Clair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deckerville, with the one closest to Deckerville listed first.
    • Jeddo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jeddo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeddo
      • Jeddo is located in Saint Clair County
    • Yale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
      • Yale is located in Saint Clair County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,861 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yale <2>
    • Blaine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
      • Blaine is located in Saint Clair County
    • North Lakeport
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lakeport
      • North Lakeport is located in Saint Clair County
  • Tuscola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deckerville, with the one closest to Deckerville listed first.
    • Cass City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cass City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cass City
      • Cass City is located in Tuscola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,273 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cass City <2>
    • Deford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deford
      • Deford is located in Tuscola County
    • Wilmot
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
      • Wilmot is located in Tuscola County
    • Kingston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Gagetown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gagetown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gagetown
      • Gagetown is located in Tuscola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gagetown <2>
    • Elmwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood
      • Elmwood is located in Tuscola County

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

Cemeteries Near Deckerville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Deckerville.

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

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

  • Downing Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Rosbury Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Wright Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Rusnell Farm Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rusnell Farm Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rusnell Farm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Farnsworth Grave
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farnsworth Grave
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Farnsworth Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tucker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tucker Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Tucker Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2202263 <4>
  • Mills Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Zion Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<5> to the east of Forester.
    • The Mt. Zion Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Greenwood Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1150 <4>
  • East Marion Baptist Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • St. Patrick Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Snay Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Delaware Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (139 more) ...
    • Wheatland Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wheatland Cemetery
      • The Wheatland Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Hillside Cemetery
      • Sutherland Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1953 <4>
    • Forester Twp. Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • St. John Lutheran Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Lutheran Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John Lutheran Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<5> to the northwest of Minden City.
      • The St. John Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
      • St. John Cemetery
      • West Delaware Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1931 <4>

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Deckerville had a population of 250 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Deckerville had a population of 775 people.

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

  • Palms
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palms
    • Palms is located in Sanilac County
  • Berkshire ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berkshire. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkshire
    • Berkshire is located in Sanilac County
  • Carsonville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Forester
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forester
    • Forester is located in Sanilac County
  • Richmondville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmondville
    • Richmondville is located in Sanilac County
  • Charleston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charleston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
    • Charleston is located in Sanilac County
  • Argyle
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
    • Argyle is located in Sanilac County
  • Minden City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Elmer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmer
    • Elmer is located in Sanilac County
  • Port Sanilac
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Sanilac have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Sanilac
    • Port Sanilac is located in Sanilac County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port Sanilac <2>
  • Forestville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
    • Forestville is located in Sanilac County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
  • Freidberger
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freidberger have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freidberger
    • Freidberger is located in Sanilac County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Cash
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cash. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash
      • Cash is located in Sanilac County
    • Applegate
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Tyre
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyre
      • Tyre is located in Sanilac County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Deckerville ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Deckerville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Deckerville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Deckerville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Deckerville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Deckerville.

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 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 Deckerville:

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

The official website for Sanilac County: www.sanilaccounty.net/

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>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- Deckerville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Deckerville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5265, Longitude: -82.7420       In this case, the coordinates for Deckerville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Deckerville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025