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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 Toquin (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 Toquin. 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.

Toquin is located in Van Buren 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 Van Buren County: Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo & Saint Joseph.

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

  • Van Buren County     (The home county of Toquin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Toquin, with the one closest to Toquin listed first.
    • Covert
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fish Corners
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Corners
      • Fish Corners is located in Van Buren County
    • Hartford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bangor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor
      • Bangor is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,808 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bangor <1>
    • Lawrence
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Breedsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • South Haven
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Kibbie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibbie
      • Kibbie is located in Van Buren County
    • Lacota
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacota
      • Lacota is located in Van Buren County
    • Bloomingdale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Grand Junction
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Glendale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
      • Glendale is located in Van Buren County
  • Allegan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Toquin, with the one closest to Toquin listed first.
    • Mount Pleasant
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Allegan County
    • South Haven Highlands
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Hawkhead
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkhead
      • Hawkhead is located in Allegan County
    • Leisure
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure
      • Leisure is located in Allegan County
      • Leisure has also been known as:
      • East Casco
    • Miami Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miami Park
      • Miami Park is located in Allegan County
      • Miami Park has also been known as:
      • Miami Park Beach
      • Miomi Park Beach
    • Cedar Bluff
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
      • Cedar Bluff is located in Allegan County
    • Glenn Haven Shores
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Haven Shores
      • Glenn Haven Shores is located in Allegan County
      • Glenn Haven Shores has also been known as:
      • Hollywood
    • Glenn Shores
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Shores
      • Glenn Shores is located in Allegan County
      • Glenn Shores has also been known as:
      • Glenn Stores
    • Spring Grove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spring Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
      • Spring Grove is located in Allegan County
    • Pullman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Glenn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Ganges
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ganges
      • Ganges is located in Allegan County
  • Berrien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Toquin, with the one closest to Toquin listed first.
    • Paw Paw Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw Lake
      • Paw Paw Lake is located in Berrien County
    • Watervliet
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Coloma
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Michigan Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Michigan Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Michigan Beach
      • Lake Michigan Beach is located in Berrien County
    • Riverside
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Berrien County
    • Twelve Corners
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Twelve Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Corners
      • Twelve Corners is located in Berrien County
    • Benton Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benton Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Heights
      • Benton Heights is located in Berrien County
    • Mizpah Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mizpah Park
      • Mizpah Park is located in Berrien County
    • Naomi
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naomi
      • Naomi is located in Berrien County
    • Benton Harbor
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Shanghai Corners
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai Corners
      • Shanghai Corners is located in Berrien County
    • Fair Plain
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair Plain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Plain
      • Fair Plain is located in Berrien County
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Toquin, with the one closest to Toquin listed first.
    • Dowagiac
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • La Grange
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grange
      • La Grange is located in Cass County
    • Pokagon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pokagon
      • Pokagon is located in Cass County
    • Sumnerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumnerville
      • Sumnerville is located in Cass County
    • Penn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
      • Penn is located in Cass County
    • Wakelee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wakelee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakelee
      • Wakelee is located in Cass County
    • Cassopolis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Marcellus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Vandalia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vandalia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
      • Vandalia is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
  • Kalamazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Toquin, with the one closest to Toquin listed first.
    • Alamo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
      • Alamo is located in Kalamazoo County
    • Oshtemo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oshtemo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oshtemo
      • Oshtemo is located in Kalamazoo County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oshtemo <1>
    • Westwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Westwood is located in Kalamazoo County
  • Saint Joseph County
    • Chamberlain
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberlain
      • Chamberlain is located in Saint Joseph County

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

Cemeteries Near Toquin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Toquin.

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

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

  • Rush Lake Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rush Lake Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rush Lake Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Emmanuel Home Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emmanuel Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emmanuel Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Van Auken Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Van Auken Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Van Auken Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thomas Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Covert Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Fish Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fish Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Watervliet Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Watervliet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Watervliet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Southard Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Southard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Southard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (208 more) ...
    • Taylor Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taylor Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Taylor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Coloma Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coloma Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Coloma Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Coloma.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #270670 <4>
    • Harris Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harris Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 in 1895, Toquin had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • McDonald
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDonald have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
    • McDonald is located in Van Buren County
  • Covert
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hartford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Watervliet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Coloma
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Bangor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor
    • Bangor is located in Van Buren County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,808 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bangor <1>
  • Riverside
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Riverside is located in Berrien County
  • Lawrence
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Breedsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • South Haven
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Twelve Corners
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Twelve Corners. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Corners
    • Twelve Corners is located in Berrien County
  • Millburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millburg
    • Millburg is located in Berrien County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Lacota
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacota
      • Lacota is located in Van Buren County
    • Kibbie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibbie
      • Kibbie is located in Van Buren County
    • Spinks Corners
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spinks Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinks Corners
      • Spinks Corners is located in Berrien County

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

Newspapers Published in Toquin ...

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 128 newspapers that have been published in the area around Toquin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Toquin, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Toquin.

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 Toquin:

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

The official website for Van Buren County: www.vbco.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>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.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<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 Toquin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Toquin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Toquin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2575, Longitude: -86.2231       In this case, the coordinates for Toquin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025