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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 Selma (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 Selma. 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.

Selma is located in Marquette 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 Marquette County: Alger, Baraga, Delta, Dickinson, Iron & Menominee.

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

  • Marquette County     (The home county of Selma)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Selma, with the one closest to Selma listed first.
    • New Dalton
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • New Dalton is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Dalton
    • Skandia
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Carlshend
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Carlshend is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlshend
    • Little Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Helena
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Helena is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Sands
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Sands is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sands
    • Harvey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • McFarland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • McFarland is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
      • McFarland has also been known as:
      • McFarlands
    • Gwinn
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Austin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Austin is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
    • Gentian
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Gentian is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentian
    • Marquette
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brookton Corners
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Brookton Corners is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookton Corners
  • Alger County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Selma, with the one closest to Selma listed first.
    • Dorsey
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Dorsey is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorsey
    • Rumely
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Rumely is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rumely
    • Eben Junction
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Deerton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Onota
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Onota is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onota
    • Chatham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Diffin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Diffin is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diffin
    • Traunik
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Traunik is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Traunik
      • Former names for Traunik:
      • Buckeye Landing
      • Buckeye Spur
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Traunik <1>
    • Slapneck ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Slapneck is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slapneck
    • Trenary
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Au Train
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Munising Junction
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Munising Junction is located in Alger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munising Junction
    • Munising
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Delta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Selma, with the one closest to Selma listed first.
    • Lathrop
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Lathrop is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lathrop
    • Osier
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Osier is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osier
    • Rock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Trombly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Trombly is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trombly
      • Trombly has also been known as:
      • Trombley
    • Beaver
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Beaver is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
    • Saint Nicholas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Saint Nicholas is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
    • Perkins
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Perkins is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkins
    • Maplewood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Maplewood is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
    • Brampton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Brampton is located in Delta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brampton

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

Cemeteries Near Selma ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Selma.

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 Selma - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Selma covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Emmanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Haglund Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • UMC Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • West Branch Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • St. Pauls Lutherans Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Deerton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Sands Twp. Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Hillview Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Gwinn Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Trudell Family Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Lathrop Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Limestone Twp. Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (22 more) ...
    • Pine Grove Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Mathias Twp. Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Au Train Twp. Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)

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>

While we didn't find Selma in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Selma.

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

  • Gordon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Gordon is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
  • Little Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Plains
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Plains is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plains
  • Swanzy
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Swanzy is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swanzy
  • Deerton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Onota
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Onota is located in Alger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onota
  • Sands
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Sands is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sands
  • McFarland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • McFarland is located in Marquette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
    • McFarland has also been known as:
    • McFarlands
  • Harvey
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Lathrop
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Lathrop is located in Delta County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lathrop
  • Rock River
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rock River is located in Alger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock River
  • Marquette
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Au Train
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Eagle Mills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Eagle Mills is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Mills
    • Rock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Selma ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Selma.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Selma, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Selma.

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 Selma:

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 Selma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Selma) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.