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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 Leonard (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 Leonard. 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 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.

Leonard is located in Clearwater 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 Clearwater County: Becker, Beltrami, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Pennington & Polk.

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

  • Clearwater County     (The home county of Leonard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leonard, with the one closest to Leonard listed first.
    • Shevlin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shevlin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shevlin
      • Shevlin is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shevlin <2>
    • Clearbrook
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearbrook
      • Clearbrook is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 535 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clearbrook <2>
    • Bagley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bagley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagley
      • Bagley is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,439 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bagley <2>
    • Gonvick
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gonvick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gonvick
      • Gonvick is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gonvick <2>
    • Minerva
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minerva
      • Minerva is located in Clearwater County
    • Rice Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Lake
      • Rice Lake is located in Clearwater County
  • Beltrami County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leonard, with the one closest to Leonard listed first.
    • Pinewood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood
      • Pinewood is located in Beltrami County
    • Debs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Debs
      • Debs is located in Beltrami County
    • Solway
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Island Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
      • Island Lake is located in Beltrami County
    • Puposky
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puposky
      • Puposky is located in Beltrami County
    • Little Rock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
      • Little Rock is located in Beltrami County
    • Wilton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
      • Wilton is located in Beltrami County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
    • Red Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Nebish
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebish
      • Nebish is located in Beltrami County
    • Bemidji
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Redby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redby
      • Redby is located in Beltrami County
    • Lavinia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavinia
      • Lavinia is located in Beltrami County
  • Mahnomen County
    • Roy Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Lake
      • Roy Lake is located in Mahnomen County
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leonard, with the one closest to Leonard listed first.
    • Gully
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gully have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gully
      • Gully is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Lengby
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lengby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lengby
      • Lengby is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
    • Trail
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail
      • Trail is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Fosston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • McIntosh
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McIntosh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
      • McIntosh is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 596 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McIntosh <2>
  • Red Lake County
    • Oklee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oklee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oklee
      • Oklee is located in Red Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oklee <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Leonard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Leonard.

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

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

  • Dudley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dudley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dudley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Norway Lake Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norway Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norway Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Zion Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sinclair Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sinclair Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sinclair Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Seljord Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Seljord Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Seljord Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Seljord Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Seljord Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Seljord Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Emmanuel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emmanuel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emmanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Buzzle Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buzzle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buzzle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clearwater Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clearwater Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clearwater Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Landstad Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Landstad Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Landstad Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pinewood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Friendship Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friendship Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friendship Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (102 more) ...
    • Silver Creek Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silver Creek Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silver Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Maple Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Our Lady of Victory Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Lady of Victory Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Lady of Victory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<4>

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

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

  • Olga
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olga
    • Olga is located in Polk County
  • Red Lake
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Fosston
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • McIntosh
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McIntosh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • McIntosh is located in Polk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 596 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McIntosh <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Leonard ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Leonard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Leonard, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Leonard.

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 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 Leonard:

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

The official website for Clearwater County: www.co.clearwater.mn.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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 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 Leonard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Leonard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Leonard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6512, Longitude: -95.2669       In this case, the coordinates for Leonard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025