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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 Roberts (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 Roberts. 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.

Name Variations for Roberts ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

While the name of this community is Roberts, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Roberts may originally have been Robert's.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Roberts. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Roberts.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Roberts 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 Roberts. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Roberts:

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Roberts)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Western
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Western is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
    • Fergus Falls
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dalton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Elizabeth
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Underwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rothsay
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Edwards
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Erhard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Battle Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Maine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Clitherall
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Amor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Pelican Rapids
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Melby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Melby is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melby
    • Evansville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Millerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Wendell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Elbow Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashby
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Thorsborg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Thorsborg is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorsborg
    • Norcross
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Norcross is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcross
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Erdahl
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Erdahl is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erdahl
    • Barrett
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Barrett is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
    • Herman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Herman is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 445 people
    • Hoffman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Traverse County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Tintah
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Tintah is located in Traverse County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tintah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Charlesville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Charlesville is located in Traverse County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlesville
    • Wheaton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Wilkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Foxhome
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Foxhome is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhome
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Nashua
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Nashua is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Campbell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Campbell is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
    • Doran
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Doran is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doran
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
    • Tenney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Tenney is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenney
      • Estimated population in 2011: 5 people
    • Childs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Childs is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
    • Breckenridge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Lawndale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
    • Kent
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Kent is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
  • Richland County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Wahpeton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Wahpeton is located in Richland County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahpeton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,728 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wahpeton <2>
    • Fairmount
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Oswald
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Oswald is located in Richland County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oswald
    • Dwight
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Dwight is located in Richland County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
    • Great Bend
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Roberts County (SD)
    • White Rock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • White Rock is located in Roberts County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3 people

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

Cemeteries Near Roberts ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Roberts.

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

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

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

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 Roberts in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Roberts.

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

  • Western
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Western is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
  • French
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • French is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French
  • Parkdale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Parkdale is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
  • Fergus Falls
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Wendell
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Campbell
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Campbell is located in Wilkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
  • Dalton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Wall Lake
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Wall Lake is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall Lake
  • Carlisle
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Carlisle is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
  • Everdell
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Everdell is located in Wilkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everdell
  • Tintah
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Tintah is located in Traverse County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tintah
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
  • Elizabeth
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Doran
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Doran is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doran
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
    • Tenney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Tenney is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenney
      • Estimated population in 2011: 5 people
    • Elbow Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Roberts ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Roberts.

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

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 Roberts:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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 Roberts, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Roberts) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.