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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 Butler (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 Butler. 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.

Butler is located in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Todd, Wadena & Wilkin.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Butler)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Davies
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • New York Mills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Perham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
    • Bluffton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Richville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Wadena
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <1>
    • Dent
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <1>
    • Deer Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Leaf City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Ottertail
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Vergas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Henning
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Amor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Evergreen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Wolf Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Osage
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Frazee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Ponsford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Rochert
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Pine Point is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Point
    • Detroit Lakes
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Two Inlets
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Two Inlets is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Inlets
    • Bucks Mill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Richwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
  • Hubbard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Park Rapids
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dorset
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Dorset is located in Hubbard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorset
    • Nevis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Todd County
    • Hewitt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Menahga
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Sebeka
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Nimrod
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Verndale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Aldrich
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people

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

Cemeteries Near Butler ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Butler.

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

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

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

  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Spruce Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Red Eye Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • St. John's Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Paddock - Bethel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Nazareth Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Pickett Family Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wolf Lake Community Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Bethania Lutheran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Grace Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (151 more) ...

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>

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

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

  • Davies
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
  • New York Mills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Perham
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
  • Menahga
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Sebeka
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Luce
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
  • Bluffton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Osage
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Frazee
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Wadena
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <1>
  • Hubbard
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Hubbard is located in Hubbard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard
  • Ottertail
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Deer Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Park Rapids
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Nimrod
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Butler ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Butler.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Butler:

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 Butler, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Butler) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.