RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Van Buren County >> Lawrence >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Michigan

The Commemorative Quarter for Michigan





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 Lawrence (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 Lawrence. 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 doctors 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.

Lawrence is located in Van Buren 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 Van Buren County: Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo & Saint Joseph.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Lawrence ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lawrence.

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

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

  • Lawrence Village Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lawrence Village Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lawrence Village Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Coburn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coburn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coburn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prospect Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prospect Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prospect Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hicks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hicks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hicks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wildey Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wildey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wildey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Southard Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Southard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Southard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Threemile Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Threemile Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Threemile Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hoppin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hoppin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hoppin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hamilton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hamilton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Van Auken Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Van Auken Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Van Auken Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (258 more) ...
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Arlington Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Clapp Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clapp Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clapp 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 Lawrence had a population of 564 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lawrence had a population of 970 people.

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

  • Hartford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • McDonald
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDonald have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
    • McDonald is located in Van Buren County
  • Bangor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Glendale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Decatur
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Decatur have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
    • Decatur is located in Van Buren County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,716 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur <1>
  • Paw Paw
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Breedsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Toquin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toquin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toquin
    • Toquin is located in Van Buren County
  • Watervliet
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Glenwood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Glenwood is located in Cass County
  • Lawton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
    • Lawton is located in Van Buren County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,796 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <1>
  • Almena
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Almena. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
    • Almena is located in Van Buren County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Almena
    • From Lawrence to Almena
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Covert
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sister Lakes
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sister Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sister Lakes
      • Sister Lakes is located in Van Buren County
    • Berlamont
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berlamont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlamont
      • Berlamont is located in Van Buren County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lawrence ...

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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lawrence.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lawrence. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lawrence and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lawrence.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6> of Lawrence.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Lawrence:

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

The official website for Van Buren County: www.vbco.org/

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

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>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>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.
<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 Lawrence, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Lawrence) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lawrence. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2193, Longitude: -86.0512    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025