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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 Pokagon (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 Pokagon. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Pokagon is located in Cass 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 Cass County: Elkhart (IN), Saint Joseph (IN), Berrien, Saint Joseph & Van Buren.

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

  • Cass County     (The home county of Pokagon)
  • Berrien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pokagon, with the one closest to Pokagon listed first.
    • Berrien Center
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berrien Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrien Center
      • Berrien Center is located in Berrien County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berrien Center <1>
    • Niles
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Eau Claire
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eau Claire have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eau Claire
      • Eau Claire is located in Berrien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eau Claire <1>
    • Berrien Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berrien Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrien Springs
      • Berrien Springs is located in Berrien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berrien Springs <1>
    • Hartman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hartman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartman
      • Hartman is located in Berrien County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hartman
      • From Pokagon to Hartman
    • Naomi
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Naomi. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
      • Naomi is located in Berrien County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Naomi
      • From Pokagon to Naomi
    • Shanghai Corners
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Buchanan
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sodus
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sodus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodus
      • Sodus is located in Berrien County
    • Bakertown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bakertown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakertown
      • Bakertown is located in Berrien County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bakertown
      • From Pokagon to Bakertown
    • Hinchman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Dayton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dayton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
      • Dayton is located in Berrien County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dayton
      • From Pokagon to Dayton
    • Hills Corners
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Kalamazoo County
  • Saint Joseph County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pokagon, with the one closest to Pokagon listed first.
    • Fabius
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Mottville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Chamberlain
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Constantine
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Constantine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Constantine
      • Constantine is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,107 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Constantine <1>
    • Three Rivers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Rivers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Rivers
      • Three Rivers is located in Saint Joseph County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,600 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Three Rivers <1>
    • White Pigeon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Van Buren County
  • Elkhart County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pokagon, with the one closest to Pokagon listed first.
    • Simonton Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Simonton Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simonton Lake
      • Simonton Lake is located in Elkhart County (IN)
    • Elkhart
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Village
      • Garden Village is located in Elkhart County (IN)
    • Jamestown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bristol
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bristol have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
      • Bristol is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,697 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol <1>
    • Dunlap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunlap have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
      • Dunlap is located in Elkhart County (IN)
    • Wakarusa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wakarusa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakarusa
      • Wakarusa is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,848 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wakarusa <1>
    • Southwest
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Southwest. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest
      • Southwest is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Southwest
      • From Pokagon to Southwest
    • Goshen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goshen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
      • Goshen is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goshen <1>
    • Middlebury
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middlebury have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlebury
      • Middlebury is located in Elkhart County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,608 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Middlebury <1>
    • Foraker
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • LaPorte County (IN)
  • Saint Joseph County (IN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pokagon, with the one closest to Pokagon listed first.
    • Granger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Georgetown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
      • Georgetown is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
    • Indian Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
      • Indian Village is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
    • Roseland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roseland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
      • Roseland is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
    • South Bend
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Mishawaka
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Osceola
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Osceola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
      • Osceola is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,486 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Osceola <1>
    • Zeigler
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Gulivoire Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Nutwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nutwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutwood
      • Nutwood is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Nutwood
      • From Pokagon to Nutwood
    • New Carlisle
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Carlisle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Carlisle
      • New Carlisle is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,150 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Carlisle <1>
    • Crumstown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crumstown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crumstown
      • Crumstown is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Crumstown
      • From Pokagon to Crumstown
    • Wyatt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyatt have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
      • Wyatt is located in Saint Joseph County (IN)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wyatt <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Pokagon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pokagon.

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

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

  • Pokagon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pokagon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pokagon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sumnerville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sumnerville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sumnerville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mission Hills Memorial Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Rodgers Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rodgers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rodgers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Salisbury Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salisbury Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salisbury Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dewey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dewey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dewey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Morris Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morris Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morris Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dick Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dick Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Barron Lake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Coulter Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Brookside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brookside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brookside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Franklin Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Franklin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Franklin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (285 more) ...
    • Burlington Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burlington Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burlington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Berrien Center Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Berrien Center Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Berrien Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Johnson Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Pokagon had a population of 225 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Dailey
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dailey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dailey
    • Dailey is located in Cass County
  • Dowagiac
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairland
    • Fairland is located in Berrien County
  • Niles
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Berrien Center
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berrien Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrien Center
    • Berrien Center is located in Berrien County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berrien Center <1>
  • La Grange
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Cassopolis
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Eau Claire
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eau Claire have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eau Claire
    • Eau Claire is located in Berrien County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eau Claire <1>
  • Berrien Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berrien Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrien Springs
    • Berrien Springs is located in Berrien County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,718 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berrien Springs <1>
  • Edwardsburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edwardsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsburg
    • Edwardsburg is located in Cass County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,241 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edwardsburg <1>
  • Naomi
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Naomi. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
    • Naomi is located in Berrien County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Naomi
    • From Pokagon to Naomi
  • Hartman
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hartman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartman
    • Hartman is located in Berrien County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hartman
    • From Pokagon to Hartman
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Pokagon ...

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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pokagon.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pokagon, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pokagon.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Pokagon:

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

The official website for Cass County: www.casscountymi.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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Pokagon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pokagon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9127, Longitude: -86.1755    
<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 Pokagon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025