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 Manchester (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 Manchester. 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 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.
Manchester is located in Washtenaw 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 Washtenaw County: Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, Oakland & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Manchester. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Manchester:
- Washtenaw County (The home county of Manchester)
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Rowes Corner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Rowes Corner is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowes Corner
- Sharon Hollow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sharon Hollow is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon Hollow
- Bridgewater
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Chelsea
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Saline
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Dexter
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Pittsfield
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Pittsfield is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsfield
- Pittsfield has also been known as:
- Pittsfield Village
- Delhi Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Delhi Mills is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi Mills
- Hudson Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Hudson Mills is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson Mills
- Ann Arbor
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dover
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Dover is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Barton Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Barton Hills is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Hillsdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Somerset
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Somerset Center
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Somerset Center is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset Center
- Jerome
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Moscow
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Moscow is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Locust Corners
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Locust Corners is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Corners
- North Adams
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- North Adams is located in Hillsdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Adams
- Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
- Pittsford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Stockbridge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Fitchburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Fitchburg is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Bunker Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bunker Hill is located in Ingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
- Leslie
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Fishville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Fishville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
- Norvell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Norvell is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norvell
- Napoleon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Grass Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Brooklyn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Leoni
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Leoni is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leoni
- Waterloo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Waterloo is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
- Trist
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Trist is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trist
- Clarklake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Michigan Center
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Vandercook Lake
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Vandercook Lake is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandercook Lake
- Liberty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Liberty is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Lenawee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Clinton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clinton is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,287 people
- Tipton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Macon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Macon is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
- Tecumseh
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cambridge Junction
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cambridge Junction is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge Junction
- Onsted
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ridgeway
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ridgeway is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
- Britton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Holloway
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Holloway is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway
- Devils Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Devils Lake is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devils Lake
- Cement City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Adrian
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Livingston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Chalkerville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Chalkerville is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalkerville
- Chalkerville has also been known as:
- Chalkers Landing
- Hell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Hell is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hell
- Hell has also been known as:
- Hi Land Lake
- Highland Lake
- Hiland Lake
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hell <1>
- Kaiserville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Kaiserville is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaiserville
- Unadilla
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Unadilla is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unadilla
- Gregory
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Pinckney
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Anderson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Anderson is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Hamburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Lakeland
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Chubb's Corners ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Chubb's Corners is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chubb's Corners
- Pettysville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Pettysville is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettysville
- Plainfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Plainfield is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Cone
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cone is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cone
- Milan
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Azalia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Azalia is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Azalia
- Dundee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Oakville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Oakville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
- Petersburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Petersburg Junction
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Petersburg Junction is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg Junction
- Diann
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Diann is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diann
- Federman ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Federman is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federman
- Grape
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Grape is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape
- Ida
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lulu
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lulu is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lulu
- Oakland County
- South Lyon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Belleville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sheldon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Sheldon is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheldon
- Canton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Fulton County (OH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- Metamora
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Whiteville ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Whiteville is located in Fulton County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Manchester, see our County-by-County Page for Manchester.
Cemeteries Near Manchester ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Manchester.
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 Manchester - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Manchester covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- St. Mary Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Rowes Corners Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Bridgewater Center Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sharon Twp. Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sharon Hollow Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Gadd Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Reynolds Corners Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Sharon Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Shellenberger Road Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Bethel Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (391 more) ...
- St. Francis' Catholic Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fletcher Road Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Wisner Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Manchester had a population of 1,191 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Manchester had a population of 2,144 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
- River Raisin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- River Raisin is located in Washtenaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Raisin
- Clinton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clinton is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,287 people
- Bridgewater
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Norvell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Norvell is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norvell
- Newburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Newburg is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Tipton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Springville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Springville is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
- Tecumseh
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Macon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Macon is located in Lenawee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
- Francisco
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Francisco is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francisco
- Napoleon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Brooklyn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Chelsea
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Grass Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Onsted
(12 miles [19.3 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 Manchester. See our List of 1890's Communities around Manchester.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Manchester ...
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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Manchester.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Manchester. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Manchester and those printed in the larger area surrounding Manchester.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4> of Manchester.
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 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 Manchester:
- Websites specific to Michigan
- Pages specific to Washtenaw County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hillsdale County
- Ingham County
- Jackson County
- Lenawee County
- Livingston County
- Monroe County
- Oakland County
- Wayne County
- Fulton 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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Manchester, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Manchester) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |