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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 Liberty (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 Liberty. 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.

Liberty is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Calhoun, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Lenawee, Livingston & Washtenaw.

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

  • Jackson County     (The home county of Liberty)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Clarklake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarklake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarklake
      • Clarklake is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarklake <2>
    • South Jackson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Vandercook Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Horton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brooklyn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooklyn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
      • Brooklyn is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brooklyn <2>
    • Hanover
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanover have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
      • Hanover is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 424 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hanover <2>
    • Napoleon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Napoleon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
      • Napoleon is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napoleon <2>
    • Jackson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Michigan Center
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Spring Arbor
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Norvell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norvell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norvell
      • Norvell is located in Jackson County
    • Leoni
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Leoni. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoni
      • Leoni is located in Jackson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Leoni
      • From Liberty to Leoni
    • Sandstone
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Branch County
  • Calhoun County
  • Eaton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Charlesworth
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Eaton Rapids
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillsdale County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Somerset Center
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Somerset
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jerome
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jerome have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
      • Jerome is located in Hillsdale County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jerome <2>
    • Moscow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • North Adams
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Adams have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Adams
      • North Adams is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
    • Mosherville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mosherville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosherville
      • Mosherville is located in Hillsdale County
    • Locust Corners
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jonesville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
      • Jonesville is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,206 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jonesville <2>
    • Osseo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pittsford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pittsford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsford
      • Pittsford is located in Hillsdale County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pittsford <2>
    • Hillsdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Steamburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Litchfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Litchfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Litchfield
      • Litchfield is located in Hillsdale County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,328 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Litchfield <2>
  • Ingham County
  • Lenawee County
  • Livingston County
  • Washtenaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Sharon Hollow
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Manchester
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manchester have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
      • Manchester is located in Washtenaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,144 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manchester <2>
    • Rowes Corner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Chelsea
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chelsea have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
      • Chelsea is located in Washtenaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,377 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chelsea <2>
    • Bridgewater
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridgewater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgewater
      • Bridgewater is located in Washtenaw County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgewater <2>
    • Dexter
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Fulton County (OH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Ritters ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ritters have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritters
      • Ritters is located in Fulton County (OH)
    • Fayette
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Powers ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Powers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powers
      • Powers is located in Fulton County (OH)
      • Powers has also been known as:
      • Powers Station
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Powers
      • From Liberty to Powers
    • Denson ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Denson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denson
      • Denson is located in Fulton County (OH)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Denson
      • From Liberty to Denson
  • Williams County (OH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Liberty, with the one closest to Liberty listed first.
    • Alvordton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Pioneer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pioneer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
      • Pioneer is located in Williams County (OH)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,396 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pioneer <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Liberty ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Liberty.

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

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

  • Laurel Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurel Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laurel Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Liberty Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Liberty Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Liberty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Patch Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Patch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Patch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sutfin Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Crego Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crego Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crego Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Somerset Center Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Gay Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gay Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Somerset Congregational Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Clark Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brooks Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brooks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brooks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Jackson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Jackson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Jackson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gambleville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gambleville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gambleville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (391 more) ...
    • Chapman Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chapman Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chapman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Cement City Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cement City Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cement City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Butcher Farm Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butcher Farm Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butcher Farm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 Liberty had a population of 60 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Somerset Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Somerset
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • South Jackson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Moscow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jerome
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jerome have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
    • Jerome is located in Hillsdale County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jerome <2>
  • Horton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Brooklyn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooklyn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Brooklyn is located in Jackson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,165 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brooklyn <2>
  • Hanover
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hanover have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
    • Hanover is located in Jackson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 424 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hanover <2>
  • Addison
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Addison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addison
    • Addison is located in Lenawee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 579 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Addison <2>
  • Addison Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Devils Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Napoleon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Napoleon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napoleon
    • Napoleon is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napoleon <2>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Jackson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Wheatland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheatland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
      • Wheatland is located in Hillsdale County
    • Michigan Center
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Liberty ...

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 Liberty.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Liberty, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Liberty.

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 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 Liberty:

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

The official website for Jackson County: www.co.jackson.mi.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Liberty, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Liberty) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Liberty. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1022, Longitude: -84.4024    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025