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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 Onondaga (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 Onondaga. 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 hospitals and 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.

Onondaga is located in Ingham 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 Ingham County: Clinton, Eaton, Jackson, Livingston, Shiawassee & Washtenaw.

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

  • Ingham County     (The home county of Onondaga)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Onondaga, with the one closest to Onondaga listed first.
    • Leslie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • North Leslie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Leslie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leslie
      • North Leslie is located in Ingham County
    • Mason
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mason have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
      • Mason is located in Ingham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,389 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason <1>
    • Bunker Hill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Holt
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holt have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
      • Holt is located in Ingham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holt <1>
    • Fitchburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Dansville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pollok ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Stockbridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Lansing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Meridian
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Meridian. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
      • Meridian is located in Ingham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Meridian
      • From Onondaga to Meridian
    • East Lansing
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Lansing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lansing
      • East Lansing is located in Ingham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47,641 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Lansing <1>
  • Barry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Onondaga, with the one closest to Onondaga listed first.
    • Nashville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
      • Nashville is located in Barry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,696 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashville <1>
    • Maple Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Onondaga, with the one closest to Onondaga listed first.
    • Duck Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Rice Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Albion
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Marengo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Marshall
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
      • Marshall is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,923 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marshall <1>
    • Homer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Ceresco
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ceresco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceresco
      • Ceresco is located in Calhoun County
    • Pennfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Brownlee Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownlee Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee Park
      • Brownlee Park is located in Calhoun County
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Onondaga, with the one closest to Onondaga listed first.
    • Clinton Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clinton Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton Village
      • Clinton Village is located in Clinton County
    • Gunnisonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Bath
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
      • Bath is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bath <1>
    • De Witt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Eagle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • East DeWitt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Eaton County
  • Hillsdale County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Onondaga, with the one closest to Onondaga listed first.
    • Mosherville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mosherville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosherville
      • Mosherville is located in Hillsdale County
    • Moscow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Somerset Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Somerset
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Jerome
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jerome have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Litchfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Litchfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Onondaga, with the one closest to Onondaga listed first.
    • Tompkins
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tompkins have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins
      • Tompkins is located in Jackson County
    • Berryville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rives Junction
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rives Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rives Junction
      • Rives Junction is located in Jackson County
    • Springport
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
      • Pleasant Lake is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant Lake <1>
    • Devereaux
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Parma
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
      • Parma is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 731 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parma <1>
    • Sandstone
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Woodville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Woodville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
      • Woodville is located in Jackson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Woodville
      • From Onondaga to Woodville
    • Jackson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Munith
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Spring Arbor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Lenawee County
  • Livingston County
  • Shiawassee County
  • Washtenaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Onondaga, with the one closest to Onondaga listed first.
    • Chelsea
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chelsea have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Sharon Hollow
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Onondaga ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Onondaga.

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

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

  • Onondaga Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Onondaga Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Onondaga Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lane Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Griffith Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Griffith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Griffith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brown Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brown Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Tompkins Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tompkins Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tompkins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Plains Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Walker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rives Junction Memorial Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rives Junction Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rives Junction Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pierson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pierson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (310 more) ...
    • Woodlawn Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Rosehill Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakwood Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakwood Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakwood 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Onondaga had a population of 247 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Tompkins
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tompkins have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins
    • Tompkins is located in Jackson County
  • Berryville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Aurelius
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurelius have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurelius
    • Aurelius is located in Ingham County
  • Rives Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rives Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rives Junction
    • Rives Junction is located in Jackson County
  • Leslie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Eaton Rapids
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Charlesworth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Springport
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Eden
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
    • Eden is located in Ingham County
  • North Aurelius
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Aurelius have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aurelius
    • North Aurelius is located in Ingham County
  • Kingsland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kingsland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsland
    • Kingsland is located in Eaton County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Kingsland
    • From Onondaga to Kingsland
  • Duck Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Devereaux
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mason
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mason have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
      • Mason is located in Ingham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,389 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason <1>
    • Brookfield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
      • Brookfield is located in Eaton County

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

Newspapers Published in Onondaga ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Onondaga.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Onondaga, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Onondaga.

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 Onondaga:

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

The official website for Ingham County: www.ingham.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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Onondaga) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Onondaga. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4439, Longitude: -84.5618    
<5>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.
<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 Onondaga, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025