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 Comstock (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 Comstock. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.
Comstock is located in Clay 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 Clay County: Becker, Norman, Otter Tail, Wilkin, Cass (ND) & Richland (ND).
Below are the counties that are near Comstock. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Comstock:
- Clay County (The home county of Comstock)
- The following are listed by their distance from Comstock, with the one closest to Comstock listed first.
- Baker
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Baker is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
- Sabin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sabin is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sabin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 558 people
- Finkle
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Finkle is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finkle
- Moorhead
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Barnesville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Dilworth
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Glyndon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Oakport
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Oakport is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakport
- Muskoda
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Muskoda is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muskoda
- Kragnes
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Kragnes is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kragnes
- Rollag
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Rollag is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
- Hawley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Otter Tail County
- Rothsay
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Wilkin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Comstock, with the one closest to Comstock listed first.
- Wolverton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Wolverton is located in Wilkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolverton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Kent
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Kent is located in Wilkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
- Lawndale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
- Breckenridge
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Cass County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Comstock, with the one closest to Comstock listed first.
- Oxbow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Oxbow is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxbow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Wild Rice
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wild Rice is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Rice
- Briarwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Briarwood is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 70 people
- Frontier
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Frontier is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier
- Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
- Horace
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie Rose
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Prairie Rose is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Rose
- Population from the 2020 Census: 51 people
- Kindred
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Warren
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Warren is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
- Fargo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Davenport
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- West Fargo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Reile's Acres
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Reile's Acres is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reile's Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 748 people
- Richland County (ND)
- The following are listed by their distance from Comstock, with the one closest to Comstock listed first.
- Christine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Walcott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Abercrombie
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Colfax
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Galchutt
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Galchutt is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galchutt
- Barrie
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Barrie is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrie
- Dwight
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Dwight is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
- Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
- Fairview Junction
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Fairview Junction is located in Richland County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Junction
- Mooreton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Wahpeton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Barney
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Comstock, see our County-by-County Page for Comstock.
Cemeteries Near Comstock ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Comstock.
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 Comstock - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Comstock covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Comstock, with the one closest to Comstock listed first.
- Comstock Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Clara Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Hoff Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Hemnes Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lower Wild Rice & Red River Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- North Pleasant Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Eagle Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Wolverton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- South Pleasant and Christine Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Christine Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- South Pleasant Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (116 more) ...
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Deerhorn Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Moorhead Memorial Gardens Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
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, Comstock had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Comstock had a population of 108 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Comstock, with the one closest to Comstock listed first.
- Hickson
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hickson is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickson
- Christine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wolverton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Wolverton is located in Wilkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolverton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Wild Rice
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wild Rice is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Rice
- Baker
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Baker is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
- Sabin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sabin is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sabin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 558 people
- Finkle
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Finkle is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finkle
- Horace
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Walcott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Downer
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Downer is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downer
- Moorhead
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Warren
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Warren is located in Cass County (ND)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Kindred
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Colfax
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Abercrombie
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Comstock. See our List of 1890's Communities around Comstock.
Newspapers Published in Comstock ...
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 108 newspapers that have been published in the area around Comstock.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Comstock, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Comstock.
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 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 Comstock:
- Websites specific to Minnesota
- Pages specific to Clay County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Otter Tail County
- Wilkin County
- Cass County
- Richland County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Minnesota
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> | 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- Comstock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Comstock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |