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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 Plummer (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 Plummer. 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 doctors 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.

Plummer is located in Red Lake 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 Red Lake County: Pennington & Polk.

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

  • Red Lake County     (The home county of Plummer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plummer, with the one closest to Plummer listed first.
    • Brooks
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Brooks is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
    • Oklee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Red Lake Falls
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Dorothy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Dorothy is located in Red Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
  • Clearwater County
    • Gonvick
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plummer, with the one closest to Plummer listed first.
    • Holt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Holt is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
    • Viking
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Viking is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viking
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
    • Espelie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Espelie is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Espelie
  • Norman County
    • Rindal
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Rindal is located in Norman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rindal
  • Pennington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plummer, with the one closest to Plummer listed first.
    • Saint Hilaire
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Saint Hilaire is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Hilaire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
    • Thief River Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Erie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Erie is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
    • Goodridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Goodridge is located in Pennington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plummer, with the one closest to Plummer listed first.
    • Mentor
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Erskine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Trail
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Trail is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trail
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Dugdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Dugdale is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
    • McIntosh
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Gentilly
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Gentilly is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
    • Gully
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Gully is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gully
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Melvin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Melvin is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Winger
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Shirley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Shirley is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • Fosston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Crookston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Euclid
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Euclid is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid

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

Cemeteries Near Plummer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plummer.

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

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

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

  • St. Vincent De Paul Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Clearwater Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Finnish Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Clearwater Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Clara Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • St. Anthony Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Presbyterian Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (128 more) ...
    • Salem Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Ebenezer Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • St. Pauli Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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>

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

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

  • Mentor
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Erskine
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Dugdale
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Dugdale is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugdale
  • Gentilly
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Gentilly is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentilly
  • McIntosh
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Maple Bay
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Bay is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bay
  • Benoit
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Benoit is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benoit
  • Olga
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Olga is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olga
  • Burwell
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Burwell is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwell
  • Melvin
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Melvin is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
  • Holt
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Holt is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
  • Winger
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Viking
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Viking is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viking
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
    • Shirley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Shirley is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • Crookston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Plummer ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plummer.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Plummer. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Plummer and those printed in the larger area surrounding Plummer.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3> of Plummer.

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 Plummer:

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 Plummer, 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' (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- Plummer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.