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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 Riggsville (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 Riggsville. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Riggsville is located in Cheboygan 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 Cheboygan County: Charlevoix, Emmet, Montmorency, Otsego & Presque Isle.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Riggsville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riggsville.

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

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

  • Riggsville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riggsville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riggsville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Calvary Polish Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Polish Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Calvary Polish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John's German Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's German Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's German Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Polish Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Polish Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Polish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • African-American Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the African-American Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the African-American Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Munro Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Munro Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Munro Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burt Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary's Indian Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary's Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hebron Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hebron Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hebron Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (85 more) ...
    • Owens Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Owens Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Owens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pine Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Hill 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Riggsville had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Mullett Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mullett Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullett Lake
    • Mullett Lake is located in Cheboygan County
  • Topinabee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Cheboygan
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cheboygan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheboygan
    • Cheboygan is located in Cheboygan County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,697 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cheboygan <2>
  • Pellston
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Brutus
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brutus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brutus
    • Brutus is located in Emmet County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brutus <2>
  • Levering
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Burt Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burt Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burt Lake
    • Burt Lake is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burt Lake <2>
  • Indian River
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River
    • Indian River is located in Cheboygan County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Indian River <2>
  • Carp Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Freedom
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freedom have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
    • Freedom is located in Cheboygan County
  • Alanson
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alanson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alanson
    • Alanson is located in Emmet County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 755 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alanson <2>
  • Pointe Aux Pins
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Ayr
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ayr have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayr
      • Ayr is located in Emmet County
    • Manning
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manning have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manning
      • Manning is located in Cheboygan County
    • Oden
      (14 miles [22.5 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 Riggsville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Riggsville.

Newspapers Published in Riggsville ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riggsville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riggsville, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riggsville.

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 Riggsville:

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

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>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 Riggsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Riggsville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riggsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.5721, Longitude: -84.6099    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025