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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 Big Woods (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 Big Woods. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Big Woods is located in Marshall County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Marshall County: Beltrami, Kittson, Pennington, Polk, Roseau, Grand Forks (ND), Pembina (ND) & Walsh (ND).

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

  • Marshall County     (The home county of Big Woods)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Woods, with the one closest to Big Woods listed first.
    • Oslo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oslo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oslo
      • Oslo is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oslo <2>
    • Alvarado
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alvarado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
      • Alvarado is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 362 people
    • Argyle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Stephen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stephen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephen
      • Stephen is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stephen <2>
    • Warren
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Englund
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Englund have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englund
      • Englund is located in Marshall County
  • Kittson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Woods, with the one closest to Big Woods listed first.
    • Donaldson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donaldson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
      • Donaldson is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
    • Kennedy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
      • Kennedy is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kennedy <2>
    • Deerwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deerwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
      • Deerwood is located in Kittson County
  • Polk County
    • East Grand Forks
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Grand Forks County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Woods, with the one closest to Big Woods listed first.
    • Manvel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manvel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
      • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <2>
    • Johnstown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
    • Gilby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
      • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <2>
    • Mekinock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Inkster
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inkster
      • Inkster is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Inkster <2>
    • Grand Forks
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Emerado
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerado
      • Emerado is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Emerado <2>
    • Orr
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
      • Orr is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
  • Pembina County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Woods, with the one closest to Big Woods listed first.
    • Drayton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drayton
      • Drayton is located in Pembina County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 728 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drayton <2>
    • Pittsburgh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburgh
      • Pittsburgh is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Bowesmont
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowesmont
      • Bowesmont is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Saint Thomas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Thomas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Thomas
      • Saint Thomas is located in Pembina County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Thomas <2>
  • Walsh County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Woods, with the one closest to Big Woods listed first.
    • Warsaw
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
      • Warsaw is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Ardoch
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ardoch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardoch
      • Ardoch is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ardoch <2>
    • Minto
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minto
      • Minto is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 582 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minto <2>
    • Herriott
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herriott
      • Herriott is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Cashel ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cashel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashel
      • Cashel is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Herrick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Grafton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
      • Grafton is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,075 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grafton <2>
    • Forest River
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest River
      • Forest River is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forest River <2>
    • Auburn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
      • Auburn is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Mandt
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandt
      • Mandt is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Conway
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
      • Conway is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
    • Pisek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisek
      • Pisek is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pisek <2>
    • Hoople
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoople have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoople
      • Hoople is located in Walsh County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoople <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Big Woods ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Woods.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Woods, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Woods.

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 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 Big Woods:

Cemeteries Near Big Woods ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Woods.

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

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

  • Malm Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Malm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Malm Cemetery
  • Big Woods Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Big Woods Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Woods Cemetery
  • Fork Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fork Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fork Cemetery
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
  • Vega Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vega Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vega Cemetery
  • Vega Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vega Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vega Cemetery
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
  • Mesopotamia Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mesopotamia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mesopotamia Cemetery
  • Swedish Evangelical Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swedish Evangelical Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swedish Evangelical Cemetery
  • St. Joseph's Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph's Cemetery
  • Oak Lawn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Lawn Cemetery
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
  • Continue List   (84 more) ...
    • St. Patrick Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patrick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patrick Cemetery
    • Swedish Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swedish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swedish Cemetery
    • Sacred Heart Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Big Woods had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Ardoch
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ardoch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardoch
    • Ardoch is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ardoch <2>
  • Minto
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minto
    • Minto is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 582 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minto <2>
  • Argyle
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Stephen
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stephen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephen
    • Stephen is located in Marshall County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stephen <2>
  • Cashel ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cashel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashel
    • Cashel is located in Walsh County (ND)
  • Grafton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
    • Grafton is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,075 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grafton <2>
  • Voss
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Voss have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voss
    • Voss is located in Walsh County (ND)
  • Manvel
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manvel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
    • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <2>
  • Drayton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drayton
    • Drayton is located in Pembina County (ND)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 728 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drayton <2>
  • Forest River
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest River
    • Forest River is located in Walsh County (ND)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forest River <2>
  • Warren
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Tabor
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tabor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
    • Tabor is located in Polk County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Johnstown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County (ND)
    • Donaldson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donaldson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
      • Donaldson is located in Kittson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
    • Auburn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
      • Auburn is located in Walsh County (ND)

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

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

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Big Woods) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Woods. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.3112, Longitude: -97.1084    
<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 Big Woods, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024