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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 Turtle River (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 Turtle River. 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 Turtle River ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Turtle River: Turtle Riv.

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 hospitals 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.

Turtle River is located in Beltrami 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 Beltrami County: Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Pennington & Roseau.

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

  • Beltrami County     (The home county of Turtle River)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle River, with the one closest to Turtle River listed first.
    • Lavinia
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavinia
      • Lavinia is located in Beltrami County
    • Tenstrike
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hines
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Puposky
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puposky
      • Puposky is located in Beltrami County
    • Bemidji
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosby
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosby
      • Rosby is located in Beltrami County
    • Wilton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
      • Wilton is located in Beltrami County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
    • Nebish
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebish
      • Nebish is located in Beltrami County
    • Blackduck
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Pennington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Langor
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langor
      • Langor is located in Beltrami County
    • Pinewood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood
      • Pinewood is located in Beltrami County
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle River, with the one closest to Turtle River listed first.
    • Cass Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cass Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cass Lake
      • Cass Lake is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 764 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cass Lake <1>
    • Ryan Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ryan Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan Village
      • Ryan Village is located in Cass County
    • Bena
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bena
      • Bena is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 125 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bena <1>
  • Clearwater County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle River, with the one closest to Turtle River listed first.
    • Shevlin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shevlin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
    • Leonard
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leonard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
      • Leonard is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leonard <1>
    • Bagley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bagley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <1>
  • Hubbard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle River, with the one closest to Turtle River listed first.
    • Laporte
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laporte have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laporte
      • Laporte is located in Hubbard County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laporte <1>
    • Lake George
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake George have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake George
      • Lake George is located in Hubbard County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake George <1>
    • Benedict
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benedict have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benedict
      • Benedict is located in Hubbard County
  • Itasca County
    • Squaw Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Squaw Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squaw Lake
      • Squaw Lake is located in Itasca County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Squaw Lake <1>
  • Koochiching County
    • Northome
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northome have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northome
      • Northome is located in Koochiching County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 187 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Northome <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Turtle River ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Turtle River.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Turtle River. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Turtle River and those printed in the larger area surrounding Turtle River.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Turtle River.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Turtle River:

Cemeteries Near Turtle River ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Turtle River.

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

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

  • Pine Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • South Arm Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • The South Arm Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Turtle River Twp. Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Arm Cemetery
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Nelson Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Nelson Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nelson Family Cemetery
  • Sugar Bush Twp. Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sugar Bush Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sugar Bush Twp. Cemetery
  • Turtle Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Turtle Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Turtle Lake Cemetery
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
  • East Side Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Side Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Side Cemetery
  • Nymore Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nymore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nymore Cemetery
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Aardahl Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (74 more) ...
    • Ten Lake Twp. Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Wilton Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilton Cemetery
    • Trinity Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery

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.<6>

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

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

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

The official website for Beltrami County: www.co.beltrami.mn.us/

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

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 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.
<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- Turtle River) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Turtle River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.5874, Longitude: -94.7574    
<4>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.
<5>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<6>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 Turtle River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024