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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 Taunton (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 Taunton. 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 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.

Taunton is located in Lyon 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 Lyon County: Lincoln, Murray, Pipestone, Redwood & Yellow Medicine.

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

  • Lyon County     (The home county of Taunton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taunton, with the one closest to Taunton listed first.
    • Minneota
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Ghent
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynd
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Marshall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cottonwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Russell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Russell is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
    • Florence
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Florence is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
    • Balaton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Amiret
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Garvin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Garvin is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • Chippewa County
  • Lac qui Parle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taunton, with the one closest to Taunton listed first.
    • Providence
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Boyd
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Boyd is located in Lac qui Parle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boyd <1>
    • Dawson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Dawson is located in Lac qui Parle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawson <1>
    • Madison
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Madison is located in Lac qui Parle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,376 people
  • Lincoln County
  • Pipestone County
  • Redwood County
  • Yellow Medicine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taunton, with the one closest to Taunton listed first.
    • Porter
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Porter is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
    • Saint Leo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Saint Leo is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Leo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
    • Canby
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarkfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Hazel Run
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Hazel Run is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Run
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
    • Hanley Falls
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Wood Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Wood Lake is located in Yellow Medicine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 395 people
    • Granite Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Brookings County (SD)
    • White
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • White is located in Brookings County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White <1>
  • Deuel County (SD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Taunton, with the one closest to Taunton listed first.
    • Gary
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Gary is located in Deuel County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gary <1>
    • Astoria
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Brandt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Brandt is located in Deuel County (SD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brandt <1>
    • Toronto
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Moritz
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Taunton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Taunton.

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

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

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

  • Old Taunton Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Burton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Alta Vista Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Edwards Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Porter Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hemnes Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Hemnes Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Josephson Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Wergeland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Icelandic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (122 more) ...
    • Icelandic Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • St. Leo Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Swede Home Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)

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, Taunton had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Taunton had a population of 130 people.

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

  • Minneota
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Porter
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Porter is located in Yellow Medicine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
  • Saint Leo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Saint Leo is located in Yellow Medicine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Leo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
  • Wilno
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilno is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilno
  • Ghent
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Canby
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Green Valley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Green Valley is located in Lyon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Lynd
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Providence
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Marshall
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Hendricks
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Clarkfield
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Russell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Russell is located in Lyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
    • Cottonwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Boyd
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Boyd is located in Lac qui Parle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boyd <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Taunton ...

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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Taunton.

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

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 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 Taunton:

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 Taunton, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Taunton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.