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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 Topaz (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 Topaz. 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 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.

Topaz is located in Ontonagon 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 Ontonagon County: Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Cook (MN) & Ashland (WI).

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

  • Ontonagon County     (The home county of Topaz)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Topaz, with the one closest to Topaz listed first.
    • Bergland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Lake Gogebic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Lake Gogebic is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Gogebic
    • Ewen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • White Pine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Bruce Crossing
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Nonesuch
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Nonesuch is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nonesuch
    • Craigsmere
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Craigsmere is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigsmere
    • Gem
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Gem is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem
    • Paynesville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Paynesville is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville
    • Rockland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Robbins
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Robbins is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins
    • Green
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Green is located in Ontonagon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green
    • Paulding
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Gogebic County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Topaz, with the one closest to Topaz listed first.
    • White City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • White City is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Gogebic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Gogebic is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gogebic
    • Marenisco
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hartley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Hartley is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartley
      • Hartley has also been known as:
      • Hartleys
    • Connorville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Connorville is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connorville
    • Thomaston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Thomaston is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomaston
    • Wakefield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Fuller
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Fuller is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
    • Watersmeet
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ramsay
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Ramsay is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsay
    • Bessemer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Yale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Yale is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
  • Houghton County
    • Kenton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Kenton is located in Houghton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenton
  • Vilas County (WI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Topaz, with the one closest to Topaz listed first.
    • Katinka Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Katinka Village is located in Vilas County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katinka Village
    • Land O'Lakes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Land O'Lakes is located in Vilas County (WI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Land O'Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people

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

Cemeteries Near Topaz ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Topaz.

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

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

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

  • Forest Lawn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Norwich Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Ewen Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Bruce Crossing Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce Crossing Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bruce Crossing Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the southeast of Bruce Crossing.
    • The Bruce Crossing Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hillside Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #190 <2>
  • Marenisco Twp. Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodawn Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Old Indian Burial Grounds
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Paynesville Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Irish Hollow Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Methodist Rose Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Barclay Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Agate Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 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.<4>

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

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

  • Matchwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Matchwood is located in Ontonagon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matchwood
  • Lake Gogebic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lake Gogebic is located in Ontonagon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Gogebic
  • Ewen
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Bruce Crossing
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Thayer
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Thayer is located in Gogebic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thayer
  • Robbins
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Robbins is located in Ontonagon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins
  • Paynesville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Paynesville is located in Ontonagon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville
  • Rockland
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Wellington
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Wellington is located in Gogebic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington
  • Hartley
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hartley is located in Gogebic County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartley
    • Hartley has also been known as:
    • Hartleys
  • Ontonagon
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Trout Creek
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Greenland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Thomaston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Thomaston is located in Gogebic County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomaston
    • Wakefield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Topaz ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Topaz.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Topaz, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Topaz.

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 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 Topaz:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Topaz) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Topaz, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.