RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Renville County >> Bechyn >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Bechyn (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 Bechyn. 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 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 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.

Bechyn is located in Renville County.

To see how the shape of Minnesota's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Renville County: Brown, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker, Nicollet, Redwood, Sibley & Yellow Medicine.

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

  • Renville County     (The home county of Bechyn)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bechyn, with the one closest to Bechyn listed first.
    • Morton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Danube
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Olivia
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Renville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bird Island
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Franklin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sacred Heart
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hector
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Fairfax
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Buffalo Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bechyn, with the one closest to Bechyn listed first.
    • Evan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Evan is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Cobden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Cobden is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Springfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Sleepy Eye
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bechyn, with the one closest to Bechyn listed first.
    • Clara City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Maynard
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Kandiyohi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bechyn, with the one closest to Bechyn listed first.
    • Roseland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Roseland is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Blomkest
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Blomkest is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blomkest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
    • Prinsburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Prinsburg is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prinsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
    • Lake Lillian
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Svea
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Svea is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
    • Raymond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Lyon County
    • Cottonwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • McLeod County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bechyn, with the one closest to Bechyn listed first.
    • Stewart
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Stewart is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
    • Fernando
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Fernando is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernando
  • Meeker County
    • Cosmos
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Redwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bechyn, with the one closest to Bechyn listed first.
    • North Redwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • North Redwood is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Redwood
    • Redwood Falls
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Delhi
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Delhi is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
    • Belview
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Belview is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
    • Morgan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Morgan is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
    • Seaforth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Clements
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Clements is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clements
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 140 people
    • Vesta
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Vesta is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
    • Wabasso
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Lucan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Wanda
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Milroy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lamberton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Sibley County
    • Gibbon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Yellow Medicine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bechyn, with the one closest to Bechyn listed first.
    • Echo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Echo is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <1>
    • Wood Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Wood Lake is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 395 people
    • Granite Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hanley Falls
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Hanley Falls is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanley Falls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people

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

Cemeteries Near Bechyn ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bechyn.

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

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Bechyn had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Beaver Falls
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Beaver Falls is located in Renville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Falls
  • North Redwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • North Redwood is located in Redwood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Redwood
  • Delhi
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Delhi is located in Redwood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
  • Morton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Olivia
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Renville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Belview
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Belview is located in Redwood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belview
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
  • Franklin
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Bird Island
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Gilfillan
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Gilfillan is located in Redwood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilfillan
  • Sacred Heart
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Echo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Echo is located in Yellow Medicine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <1>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Morgan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Morgan is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
    • Hector
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Vesta
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Vesta is located in Redwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people

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

Newspapers Published in Bechyn ...

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 94 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bechyn.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bechyn, 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 Bechyn.

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 Bechyn:

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 Bechyn, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Bechyn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.