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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 Bowlus (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 Bowlus. 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 and hospitals 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.

Bowlus is located in Morrison 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 Morrison County: Benton, Cass, Crow Wing, Mille Lacs, Stearns & Todd.

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

  • Morrison County     (The home county of Bowlus)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowlus, with the one closest to Bowlus listed first.
    • North Prairie
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Elmdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elmdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
      • Elmdale is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elmdale
      • From Bowlus to Elmdale
    • Royalton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sobieski
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sobieski have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sobieski
      • Sobieski is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
    • Upsala
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Little Falls
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Flensburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Swanville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buckman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckman
      • Buckman is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
    • Belle Prairie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Genola
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genola
      • Genola is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Pierz
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierz have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierz
      • Pierz is located in Morrison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierz <2>
    • Randall
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowlus, with the one closest to Bowlus listed first.
    • Rice
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Rice is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,401 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <2>
    • Watab
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Evergreen Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
      • Evergreen Village is located in Benton County
    • Sauk Rapids
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilman
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilman
      • Gilman is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilman <2>
    • Foley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foley
      • Foley is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,653 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foley <2>
    • Ronneby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ronneby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ronneby
      • Ronneby is located in Benton County
    • Duelm
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Crow Wing County
  • Sherburne County
    • Cable
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cable. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable
      • Cable is located in Sherburne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cable
      • From Bowlus to Cable
  • Stearns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowlus, with the one closest to Bowlus listed first.
    • Opole
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Opole. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opole
      • Opole is located in Stearns County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Opole
      • From Bowlus to Opole
    • Holdingford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holdingford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holdingford
      • Holdingford is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holdingford <2>
    • Saint Wendel
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Saint Stephen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Stephen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Stephen
      • Saint Stephen is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 867 people
    • Saint Anthony
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Anthony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Anthony
      • Saint Anthony is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 91 people
    • Avon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Collegeville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Albany
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Evergreen Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
      • Evergreen Village is located in Stearns County
    • Sartell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sartell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartell
      • Sartell is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,079 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sartell <2>
    • Saint Rosa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Rosa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Rosa
      • Saint Rosa is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Freeport
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Stearns County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <2>
    • Saint Joseph
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowlus, with the one closest to Bowlus listed first.
    • Burtrum
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Pillsbury
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pillsbury. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury
      • Pillsbury is located in Todd County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pillsbury
      • From Bowlus to Pillsbury
    • Grey Eagle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Long Prairie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Prairie
      • Long Prairie is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,297 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Prairie <2>
    • Browerville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Browerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browerville
      • Browerville is located in Todd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people

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

Cemeteries Near Bowlus ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bowlus.

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

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

  • St. Stanislaus Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Cross Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.
  • Danish Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Danish Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Danish Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Free Evangelical Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Free Evangelical Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Free Evangelical Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Edward's Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Edward's Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Edward's Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Royalton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Royalton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Royalton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Trinity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ed Cash Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ed Cash Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ed Cash Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (160 more) ...
    • St. Hegwigs Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Hegwigs Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Hegwigs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys 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.<6>

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

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

  • North Prairie
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Elmdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elmdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
    • Elmdale is located in Morrison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Elmdale
    • From Bowlus to Elmdale
  • Opole
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Opole. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opole
    • Opole is located in Stearns County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Opole
    • From Bowlus to Opole
  • Royalton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Holdingford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holdingford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holdingford
    • Holdingford is located in Stearns County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holdingford <2>
  • Gregory
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gregory have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
    • Gregory is located in Morrison County
  • Upsala
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Rice
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
    • Rice is located in Benton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,401 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <2>
  • Saint Wendel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Little Falls
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Saint Anna
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Anna have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Anna
    • Saint Anna is located in Stearns County
  • Swanville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • 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 Bowlus. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bowlus.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bowlus ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bowlus.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bowlus. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bowlus and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bowlus.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Bowlus.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Bowlus:

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

The official website for Morrison County: www.co.morrison.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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- Bowlus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bowlus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.8220, Longitude: -94.4055    
<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 Bowlus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025