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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 Howardsville (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 Howardsville. 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.

Howardsville is located in Saint Joseph 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 Saint Joseph County: Elkhart (IN), LaGrange (IN), Branch, Cass & Kalamazoo.

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

  • Saint Joseph County     (The home county of Howardsville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Chamberlain
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Chamberlain is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
    • Fabius
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Fabius is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fabius
    • Three Rivers
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Parkville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
    • Centreville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
    • Mendon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Mendon is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 848 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mendon <1>
    • Constantine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Wasepi
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Wasepi is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasepi
    • Mottville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Mottville is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mottville
    • Nottawa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • White Pigeon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bluff Beach
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bluff Beach is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Beach
    • Fairfax
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Fairfax is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
  • Allegan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Plainwell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Otsego
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Berrien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Naomi
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Naomi is located in Berrien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
    • Berrien Center
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Watervliet
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Niles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Niles is located in Berrien County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niles
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,093 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Niles <1>
    • Eau Claire
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Branch County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Sherwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Sherwood is located in Branch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
    • Matteson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Matteson is located in Branch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matteson
    • Bronson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Union City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Athens
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • West Leroy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
    • East Leroy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • East Leroy is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leroy
    • Fort Custer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort Custer is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Custer
      • Former name for Fort Custer:
      • Camp Custer
    • Joppa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Joppa is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
    • Sonoma
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sonoma is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Marcellus
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Corey
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Corey is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
    • Wakelee
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Wakelee is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
    • Jones
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Penn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Penn is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
    • Vandalia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Vandalia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
    • Brownsville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Brownsville is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
    • Cassopolis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • La Grange
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • La Grange is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
    • Union
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Dowagiac
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Edwardsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Pokagon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Pokagon is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pokagon
  • Kalamazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Schoolcraft
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Vicksburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Portage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Oshtemo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Milwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Milwood is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwood
    • Pavillion Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
    • Fulton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Fulton is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
    • Kalamazoo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Westwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Westwood is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
    • Scotts
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Comstock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
    • Eastwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
    • Parchment
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Van Buren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Lawton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Lawton is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,796 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <1>
    • Mattawan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Decatur
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Paw Paw
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Almena
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Almena is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
    • North Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • North Lake is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lake
    • Lawrence
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Glendale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Glendale is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
    • Kendall
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Kendall is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
    • Keeler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Keeler is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeler
    • Gobles
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Hartford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bangor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Bangor is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,808 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bangor <1>
  • Elkhart County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Bristol
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Bristol is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,697 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol <1>
    • Simonton Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Simonton Lake is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simonton Lake
    • Middlebury
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Garden Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Garden Village is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
    • Elkhart
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Elkhart is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhart
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52,172 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhart <1>
    • Dunlap
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Dunlap is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
  • LaGrange County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Howardsville, with the one closest to Howardsville listed first.
    • Scott
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Scott is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott
    • Seyberts
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Seyberts is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyberts
    • Shipshewana
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Howe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Brighton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Brighton is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
    • LaGrange
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • LaGrange is located in LaGrange County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaGrange
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,802 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for LaGrange <1>
  • Saint Joseph County (IN)
    • Granger
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Howardsville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Howardsville.

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

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

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

  • Howardsville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Knobhill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Upper Flatbush Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Gregory's Episcopal Abbey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Flatbush Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bly Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Beadle Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Moore Park Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Flowerfield Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Bowman Park Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Center Park Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (330 more) ...
    • Shaver Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Kern Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Howardsville had a population of 86 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Flowerfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Flowerfield is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowerfield
  • Marcellus
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Fabius
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Fabius is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fabius
  • Three Rivers
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Schoolcraft
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wakelee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Wakelee is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
  • Corey
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Corey is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
  • Parkville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
  • Jones
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Vicksburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lawton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lawton is located in Van Buren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,796 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <1>
  • Penn
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Penn is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Vandalia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Vandalia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
    • Centreville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Centreville is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centreville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,400 people
    • Volinia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Volinia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volinia

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

Newspapers Published in Howardsville ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Howardsville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Howardsville, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Howardsville.

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 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 Howardsville:

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 Howardsville, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Howardsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.