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 Lawton (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 Lawton. 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 doctors and 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.
Lawton is located in Van Buren 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 Van Buren County: Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo & Saint Joseph.
Below are the counties that are near Lawton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lawton:
- Van Buren County (The home county of Lawton)
- The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Mattawan
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Paw Paw
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Almena
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Almena is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Decatur
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Glendale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Glendale is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- North Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- North Lake is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lake
- Lawrence
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Gobles
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Kendall
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Kendall is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
- Bangor
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Breedsville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hartford
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Allegan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Otsego
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Plainwell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Allegan
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Pullman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Watson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Watson is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
- Leisure
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Leisure is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure
- Leisure has also been known as:
- East Casco
- Martin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Hooper
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hooper is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooper
- Neeley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Neeley is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neeley
- Hawkhead
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Hawkhead is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkhead
- Mount Pleasant
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Allegan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- South Haven Highlands
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Barry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Doster
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Doster is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doster
- Hickory Corners
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Prairieville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Prairieville is located in Barry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Berrien County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Watervliet
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Naomi
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Naomi is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
- Paw Paw Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Paw Paw Lake is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw Lake
- Coloma
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Berrien Center
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Eau Claire
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hartman
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hartman is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartman
- Shanghai Corners
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Shanghai Corners is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai Corners
- Lake Michigan Beach
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Lake Michigan Beach is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Michigan Beach
- Riverside
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Riverside is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Twelve Corners
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Twelve Corners is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Corners
- Benton Heights
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Benton Heights is located in Berrien County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Heights
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Fort Custer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Fort Custer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Custer
- Former name for Fort Custer:
- Camp Custer
- West Leroy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- West Leroy is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leroy
- Cass County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Marcellus
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Wakelee
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Wakelee is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
- Penn
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Penn is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
- Vandalia
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Vandalia is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- La Grange
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- La Grange is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
- Corey
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Corey is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corey
- Jones
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Dowagiac
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Cassopolis
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Brownsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Brownsville is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Pokagon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Pokagon is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pokagon
- Sumnerville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sumnerville is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumnerville
- Kalamazoo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Oshtemo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Schoolcraft
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Portage
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Westwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Westwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
- Milwood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Milwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwood
- Alamo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Alamo is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
- Kalamazoo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Vicksburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Eastwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Eastwood is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
- Pavillion Center
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Pavillion Center is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavillion Center
- Comstock
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Comstock is located in Kalamazoo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comstock
- Parchment
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Joseph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Chamberlain
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Chamberlain is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
- Fabius
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Fabius is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fabius
- Parkville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Parkville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
- Three Rivers
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Mendon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Centreville
(23 miles [37 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
- Constantine
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Mottville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Mottville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mottville
- Wasepi
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Wasepi is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasepi
- Nottawa
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Leonidas
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- White Pigeon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Elkhart County (IN)
- Simonton Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Simonton Lake is located in Elkhart County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simonton Lake
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Lawton, see our County-by-County Page for Lawton.
Cemeteries Near Lawton ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lawton.
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 Lawton - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Lawton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Chamberlin Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Bangs Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Harwick Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Prospect Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Kern Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Virgo Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Clapp Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Maple Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Threemile Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (306 more) ...
- Anderson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Pretty Lake Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Almena Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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 Lawton had a population of 788 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lawton had a population of 1,796 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Lawton, with the one closest to Lawton listed first.
- Mattawan
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Paw Paw
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Almena
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Almena is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almena
- Decatur
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Marcellus
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Oshtemo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Glendale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Glendale is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- Howardsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Howardsville is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardsville
- Flowerfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Flowerfield is located in Saint Joseph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowerfield
- Schoolcraft
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Lawrence
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Glenwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Glenwood is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Volinia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Volinia is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volinia
- Wakelee
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Wakelee is located in Cass County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
- Pine Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Pine Grove is located in Van Buren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Lawton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lawton.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lawton ...
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 227 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lawton.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lawton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lawton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lawton.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3> of Lawton.
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 either 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 Lawton:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Van Buren County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegan County
- Barry County
- Berrien County
- Calhoun County
- Cass County
- Kalamazoo County
- Saint Joseph County
- Elkhart County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Michigan
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 Lawton, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lawton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |