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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 Manitou Beach - Devils Lake (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 Manitou Beach - Devils Lake. 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.

Name Variations for Manitou Beach - Devils Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Manitou Beach - Devils Lake: Manitou Bch. Devils Lk.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Manitou Beach - Devils Lake is located in Lenawee 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 Lenawee County: Hillsdale, Jackson, Monroe, Washtenaw, Fulton (OH) & Lucas (OH).

Below are the counties that are near Manitou Beach - Devils Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Manitou Beach - Devils Lake:

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

Cemeteries Near Manitou Beach - Devils Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Manitou Beach - Devils Lake.

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 Manitou Beach - Devils Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Manitou Beach - Devils Lake, with the one closest to Manitou Beach - Devils Lake listed first.

  • Greens Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Rome Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Hand Hillside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hand Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hand Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sherman Farm Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sherman Farm Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sherman Farm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quaker Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rollin Center Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rollin Center Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rollin Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brownell - Binns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brownell - Binns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brownell - Binns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Rome Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Friends Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friends Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friends Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sanford Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sanford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sanford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rollin Village Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rollin Village Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rollin Village Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (402 more) ...
    • Maple Shade Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Shade Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Shade Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fitts Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fitts Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fitts Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Morehouse Grave
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morehouse Grave
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morehouse Grave 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.<6>

While we didn't find Manitou Beach - Devils Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Manitou Beach - Devils Lake.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Manitou Beach - Devils Lake, with the one closest to Manitou Beach - Devils Lake listed first.

  • Manitou Beach
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Geneva
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geneva have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
    • Geneva is located in Lenawee County
  • Devils Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Addison Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Addison
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Addison have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Rollin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rollin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollin
    • Rollin is located in Lenawee County
  • Onsted
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onsted have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onsted
    • Onsted is located in Lenawee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 947 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onsted <1>
  • Wheatland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheatland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
    • Wheatland is located in Hillsdale County
  • Clayton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clayton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
    • Clayton is located in Lenawee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 328 people
  • Springville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
    • Springville is located in Lenawee County
  • Somerset
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Hudson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Somerset Center
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Cadmus
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cadmus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadmus
      • Cadmus is located in Lenawee County
    • Brooklyn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooklyn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Manitou Beach - Devils Lake ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Manitou Beach - Devils Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Manitou Beach - Devils Lake, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Manitou Beach - Devils Lake.

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 helpful 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 Manitou Beach - Devils Lake:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Manitou Beach - Devils Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Lenawee County: www.lenawee.mi.us/

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>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- Manitou Beach - Devils Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Manitou Beach - Devils Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9742, Longitude: -84.2819    
<6>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 Manitou Beach - Devils Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025