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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 Sylvan (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 Sylvan. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Sylvan is located in Cass 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 Cass County: Aitkin, Beltrami, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Morrison, Todd & Wadena.

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

  • Cass County     (The home county of Sylvan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan, with the one closest to Sylvan listed first.
    • Pillager
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • East Gull Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Shore
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Ellis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Ellis is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
    • Pine River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Chickamaw Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Chickamaw Beach is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickamaw Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
  • Aitkin County
    • Nichols
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Nichols is located in Aitkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
  • Crow Wing County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan, with the one closest to Sylvan listed first.
    • Baxter
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Baxter is located in Crow Wing County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baxter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,483 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baxter <1>
    • Brainerd
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Fort Ripley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Nisswa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Nisswa is located in Crow Wing County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nisswa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,115 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nisswa <1>
    • Lake Hubert
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Hubert is located in Crow Wing County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hubert
    • Merrifield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Pequot Lakes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Riverton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Riverton is located in Crow Wing County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
    • Breezy Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jenkins
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Ironton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Trommald
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Trommald is located in Crow Wing County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trommald
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan, with the one closest to Sylvan listed first.
    • Motley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Lincoln
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Lincoln is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Cushing
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Randall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Belle Prairie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Belle Prairie is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Prairie
    • Harding
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Harding is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harding
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
    • Little Falls
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Flensburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Flensburg is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flensburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Lastrup
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sobieski
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Sobieski is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sobieski
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 194 people
    • Pierz
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Pierz is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierz
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierz <1>
    • Genola
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Genola is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan, with the one closest to Sylvan listed first.
    • Philbrook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Philbrook is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philbrook
    • Staples
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Browerville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Browerville is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • Clarissa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pillsbury
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Pillsbury is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sylvan, with the one closest to Sylvan listed first.
    • Aldrich
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Verndale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Nimrod
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Sylvan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sylvan.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sylvan, with the one closest to Sylvan 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.<3>

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

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

  • Pillager
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Crow Wing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Crow Wing is located in Crow Wing County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Wing
  • Baxter
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Baxter is located in Crow Wing County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baxter
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,483 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baxter <1>
  • Brainerd
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Saint Mathias
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Mathias is located in Crow Wing County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Mathias
  • Fort Ripley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Motley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Lincoln
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Lincoln is located in Morrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
  • Philbrook
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Philbrook is located in Todd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philbrook
  • Cushing
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Randall
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Ellis
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ellis is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Staples
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Belle Prairie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Belle Prairie is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Prairie
    • Little Falls
      (24 miles [38.6 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 Sylvan. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sylvan.

Newspapers Published in Sylvan ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sylvan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sylvan, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sylvan.

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 Sylvan:

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>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.
<3>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 Sylvan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Sylvan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.