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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 Wellston (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 Wellston. 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.

Wellston is located in Manistee 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 Manistee County: Benzie, Grand Traverse, Lake, Mason & Wexford.

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

  • Manistee County     (The home county of Wellston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellston, with the one closest to Wellston listed first.
    • Dublin
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Brethren
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brethren have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brethren
      • Brethren is located in Manistee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brethren <2>
    • Udell
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Kaleva
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kaleva have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaleva
      • Kaleva is located in Manistee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 466 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kaleva <2>
    • Chief Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chief Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chief Lake
      • Chief Lake is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chief Lake
      • From Wellston to Chief Lake
    • Norwalk
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Norwalk. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwalk
      • Norwalk is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Norwalk
      • From Wellston to Norwalk
    • Douglas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
      • Douglas is located in Manistee County
    • Onekama
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama
      • Onekama is located in Manistee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onekama <2>
    • Bear Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Eastlake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Filer City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Harlan ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harlan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan
      • Harlan is located in Manistee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harlan
      • From Wellston to Harlan
  • Benzie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellston, with the one closest to Wellston listed first.
    • Thompsonville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Griner Station
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Griner Station. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griner Station
      • Griner Station is located in Benzie County
      • Griner Station has also been known as:
      • Print
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Griner Station
      • From Wellston to Griner Station
    • Nessen City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Wallin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Benzonia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Bendon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bendon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bendon
      • Bendon is located in Benzie County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bendon
      • From Wellston to Bendon
    • Beulah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beulah have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
      • Beulah is located in Benzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beulah <2>
    • Platte River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Elberta
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Grand Traverse County
  • Lake County
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellston, with the one closest to Wellston listed first.
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Millerton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Mason County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Millerton
      • From Wellston to Millerton
    • Free Soil
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Fountain
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Batcheller ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Batcheller. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batcheller
      • Batcheller is located in Mason County
      • Batcheller has also been known as:
      • Turtle Lake
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Batcheller
      • From Wellston to Batcheller
    • Tallman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tallman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallman
      • Tallman is located in Mason County
      • Tallman has also been known as:
      • Weaver
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tallman
      • From Wellston to Tallman
    • Walhalla
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Elm Flats ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elm Flats. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Flats
      • Elm Flats is located in Mason County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elm Flats
      • From Wellston to Elm Flats
    • Sugar Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Custer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Carr
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Scottville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Amber
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellston, with the one closest to Wellston listed first.
    • Tustin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tustin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tustin
      • Tustin is located in Osceola County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tustin <2>
    • Le Roy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ashton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
      • Ashton is located in Osceola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ashton
      • From Wellston to Ashton
  • Wexford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wellston, with the one closest to Wellston listed first.
    • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hoxeyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxeyville
      • Hoxeyville is located in Wexford County
      • Hoxeyville has also been known as:
      • Clay Hill
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hoxeyville
      • From Wellston to Hoxeyville
    • Yuma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yuma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuma
      • Yuma is located in Wexford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yuma
      • From Wellston to Yuma
    • Harrietta
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrietta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietta
      • Harrietta is located in Wexford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrietta <2>
    • Bagnall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bagnall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagnall
      • Bagnall is located in Wexford County
    • Mesick
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mesick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesick
      • Mesick is located in Wexford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesick <2>
    • Boon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boon
      • Boon is located in Wexford County
    • Glengary
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Sherman
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Benson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Meauwataka
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Buckley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Cadillac
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Wellston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wellston.

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

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

  • Wellston Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wellston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wellston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fernwood Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Dickson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dickson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dickson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lother Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lother Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lother Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Irons Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chalker Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chalker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chalker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brethren Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brethren Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brethren Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Pleasantview Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasantview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasantview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Twp. Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Twp. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Meade Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meade Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meade Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1055 <5>
  • Continue List   (133 more) ...
    • Section 16 Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Section 16 Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Section 16 Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Banker Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Banker Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Banker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old School House Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)

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.<6>

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

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

  • Irons
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Marilla
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marilla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marilla
    • Marilla is located in Manistee County
  • Chief Lake
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chief Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chief Lake
    • Chief Lake is located in Manistee County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Chief Lake
    • From Wellston to Chief Lake
  • Sauble
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sauble. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauble
    • Sauble is located in Lake County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sauble
    • From Wellston to Sauble
  • Hoxeyville ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hoxeyville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxeyville
    • Hoxeyville is located in Wexford County
    • Hoxeyville has also been known as:
    • Clay Hill
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hoxeyville
    • From Wellston to Hoxeyville
  • Free Soil
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Harrietta
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrietta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrietta
    • Harrietta is located in Wexford County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrietta <2>
  • Onekama Junction
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama Junction
    • Onekama Junction is located in Manistee County
  • Wolf Lake
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
    • Wolf Lake is located in Lake County
  • Onekama
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onekama have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onekama
    • Onekama is located in Manistee County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Onekama <2>
  • Stronach
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stronach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stronach
    • Stronach is located in Manistee County
  • Fountain
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Wellston ...

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 82 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wellston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wellston, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wellston.

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 Wellston:

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

The official website for Manistee County: www.manistee.com/~edo/

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>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- Wellston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wellston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2186, Longitude: -85.9579    
<5>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.
<6>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 Wellston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025