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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 Brownton (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 Brownton. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Brownton is located in McLeod 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 McLeod County: Carver, Meeker, Renville, Sibley & Wright.

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

  • McLeod County     (The home county of Brownton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownton, with the one closest to Brownton listed first.
    • Sumter
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Sumter is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
    • Stewart
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Stewart is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
    • Biscay
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Biscay is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biscay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
    • Fernando
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Fernando is located in McLeod County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernando
    • Glencoe
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Hutchinson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Silver Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Plato
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lester Prairie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Winsted
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownton, with the one closest to Brownton listed first.
    • New Ulm
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Essig
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Carver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownton, with the one closest to Brownton listed first.
    • Hamburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Hamburg is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 526 people
    • Norwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Norwood Young America
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Norwood Young America is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood Young America
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,794 people
    • Young America
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • New Germany
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Assumption
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Assumption is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assumption
    • Hollywood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Hollywood is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
    • Hazelton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Hazelton is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelton
    • Mayer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Hydes Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Hydes Lake is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hydes Lake
    • Cologne
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Gotha
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Gotha is located in Carver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gotha
    • Waconia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Kandiyohi County
    • Lake Lillian
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Le Sueur County
    • Le Sueur
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Meeker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownton, with the one closest to Brownton listed first.
    • Cedar Mills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Cedar Mills is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
    • Cosmos
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Dassel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Darwin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Rosendale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Rosendale is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosendale
    • Litchfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Nicollet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownton, with the one closest to Brownton listed first.
    • Lafayette
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • New Sweden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • New Sweden is located in Nicollet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sweden
  • Renville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownton, with the one closest to Brownton listed first.
    • Buffalo Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Hector
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Fairfax
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bird Island
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Franklin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Scott County
    • Belle Plaine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Sibley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownton, with the one closest to Brownton listed first.
    • New Auburn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Winthrop
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Gaylord
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Arlington
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Gibbon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Isle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Henderson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownton, with the one closest to Brownton listed first.
    • Cokato
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Howard Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Smith Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Smith Lake is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Lake
    • Albright
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Albright is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albright
    • Waverly
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Brownton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brownton.

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

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

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

  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Streich Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Lake Marion Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Draeger Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Emmanuel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • St. Boniface Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • St. Matthew's Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • St. Mortens Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Getchell Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • St. John's Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (220 more) ...
    • St. Matthew's Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Round Grove Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Trinity Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Brownton had a population of 384 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Brownton had a population of 711 people.

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

  • Sumter
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Sumter is located in McLeod County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
  • Stewart
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Stewart is located in McLeod County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
  • New Auburn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Biscay
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Biscay is located in McLeod County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biscay
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
  • Glencoe
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Hutchinson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Lakeside
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeside is located in Renville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
  • Winthrop
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Gaylord
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Buffalo Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Silver Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Arlington
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Plato
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Gibbon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Mills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Cedar Mills is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Brownton ...

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 116 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brownton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Brownton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Brownton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Brownton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Brownton.

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 Brownton:

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>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 Brownton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brownton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.