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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 Faith (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 Faith. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Faith is located in Norman 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 Norman County: Becker, Clay, Mahnomen, Polk, Cass (ND) & Traill (ND).

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

  • Norman County     (The home county of Faith)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Faith, with the one closest to Faith listed first.
    • Twin Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
    • Flom
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Gary
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Rindal
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Flaming
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Ada
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Ada is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Borup
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Borup is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borup
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Faith, with the one closest to Faith listed first.
    • Ogema
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Ogema is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogema
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
    • White Earth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Callaway
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Richwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Elbow Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Elbow Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbow Lake
    • Lake Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Audubon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Faith, with the one closest to Faith listed first.
    • Ulen
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hitterdal
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
    • Felton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Hawley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Clearwater County
    • Rice Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Rice Lake is located in Clearwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
  • Mahnomen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Faith, with the one closest to Faith listed first.
    • Mahnomen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Waubun
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bejou
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Naytahwaush
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Roy Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Faith, with the one closest to Faith listed first.
    • Winger
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Fertile
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Fosston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Erskine
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • McIntosh
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Lengby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lengby is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lengby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Beltrami
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Beltrami is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beltrami
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Melvin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mentor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Dugdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Faith ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Faith.

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

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

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

  • St. Olaf Lutheran Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Hlubek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • East Wild Rice Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • First Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Williams Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Twin Valley City Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Ness Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (146 more) ...
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • St. Petri Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Zion Memorial Gardens
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)

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 in 1895, Faith had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Fossum
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Fossum is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fossum
  • Twin Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Twin Valley is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 750 people
  • Heiberg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Heiberg is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heiberg
  • Gary
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Syre
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Syre is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syre
  • Rindal
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Ulen
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • White Earth
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Winger
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Fertile
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Ada
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Ada is located in Norman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
  • Hitterdal
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Felton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Lockhart
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Lockhart is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart
    • Maple Bay
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay

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

Newspapers Published in Faith ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Faith.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Faith, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Faith.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Faith:

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 Faith, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Faith) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.