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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 Donnelly (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 Donnelly. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Donnelly is located in Montmorency 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 Montmorency County: Alcona, Alpena, Cheboygan, Crawford, Oscoda, Otsego & Presque Isle.

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

  • Montmorency County     (The home county of Donnelly)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Donnelly, with the one closest to Donnelly listed first.
    • Bigelow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Bigelow is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
    • Vienna Corners
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Vienna Corners is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna Corners
    • Big Rock ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Big Rock is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
    • Lewiston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Vienna Junction
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Vienna Junction is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna Junction
    • Atlanta
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Garland Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Garland Village is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland Village
    • Canada Creek Ranch
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Canada Creek Ranch is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canada Creek Ranch
    • Hillman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Royston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Royston is located in Montmorency County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royston
  • Alpena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Donnelly, with the one closest to Donnelly listed first.
    • Flanders
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Flanders is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanders
    • Lachine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Long Rapids
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Long Rapids is located in Alpena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Rapids
  • Cheboygan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Donnelly, with the one closest to Donnelly listed first.
    • Wolverine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Tower
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Tower is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower
    • Afton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Fingerboard Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Fingerboard Corner is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fingerboard Corner
    • Black Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Black Lake is located in Cheboygan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lake
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Donnelly, with the one closest to Donnelly listed first.
    • Bucks
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Bucks is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks
    • Frederic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Deward ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Deward is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deward
    • Grayling
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Oscoda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Donnelly, with the one closest to Donnelly listed first.
    • Red Oak
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
    • Fairview
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kneeland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kneeland is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kneeland
    • Mio
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Luzerne
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • McKinley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • McKinley is located in Oscoda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley
  • Otsego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Donnelly, with the one closest to Donnelly listed first.
    • Hetherton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hetherton is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetherton
    • Johannesburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Sparr
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Sparr is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparr
    • Lower Chub Landing ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lower Chub Landing is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Chub Landing
    • Green Timbers
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Green Timbers is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Timbers
    • Gaylord
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Arbutus Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Arbutus Beach is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbutus Beach
    • Pearll City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Pearll City is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearll City
    • Vanderbilt
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Waters
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Berryville ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Berryville is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville
    • Hallock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Hallock is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallock
  • Presque Isle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Donnelly, with the one closest to Donnelly listed first.
    • Onaway
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Onaway is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onaway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onaway <1>
    • Millersburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hawks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hawks is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawks
    • Ocqueoc
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Ocqueoc is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocqueoc

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

Cemeteries Near Donnelly ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Donnelly.

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 Donnelly - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Gingell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Charleton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Johannesburg Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Lewiston Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Briley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Finnish Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Avery Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Lovells Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Loud Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Muskrat Lake Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Rust Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (56 more) ...
    • Bagley Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Otsego Lake Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)

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.<2>

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

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

  • Hetherton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hetherton is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetherton
  • Big Rock ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Big Rock is located in Montmorency County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
  • Atlanta
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Gaylord
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Otsego Lake
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Otsego Lake is located in Otsego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsego Lake
  • Red Oak
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Red Oak is located in Oscoda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
  • Vanderbilt
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Waters
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Hillman
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Trowbridge
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Trowbridge is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trowbridge
  • Fairview
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Wolverine
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Mio
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Onaway
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Onaway is located in Presque Isle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onaway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onaway <1>
    • Frederic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Donnelly ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Donnelly.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Donnelly, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Donnelly.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Donnelly:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 Donnelly, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Donnelly) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.