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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 Vergas (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 Vergas. 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.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Vergas)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vergas, with the one closest to Vergas listed first.
    • Dent
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Dent is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 185 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dent <1>
    • Perham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
    • Richville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pelican Rapids
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Amor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
    • Maine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • Edwards
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
    • Erhard
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Ottertail
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • New York Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Davies
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
    • Leaf City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Elizabeth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Becker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vergas, with the one closest to Vergas listed first.
    • Frazee
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bucks Mill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
    • Detroit Lakes
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Cormorant
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Cormorant is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
    • Rochert
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Audubon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Evergreen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Evergreen is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Lake Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Richwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Richwood is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
    • Callaway
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Wolf Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Wolf Lake is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
    • Pine Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Pine Point is located in Becker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Point
    • Ponsford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vergas, with the one closest to Vergas listed first.
    • Rollag
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Rollag is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollag
    • Hawley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Barnesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Hitterdal
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hitterdal is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitterdal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
  • Wilkin County
    • Lawndale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale

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

Cemeteries Near Vergas ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vergas.

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

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

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

  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Vergas Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Free Thought Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Sybil Lake Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Schrams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Weimann Community Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Fairy Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sacred Heart Catholic Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Flatau Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • West Dora Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (202 more) ...
    • Lakeside Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • East Lida Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Frazee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Luce
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Luce is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
  • Bucks Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bucks Mill is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Mill
  • Perham
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Perham is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,638 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perham <1>
  • Cormorant
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Cormorant is located in Becker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cormorant
  • Pelican Rapids
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Edwards
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Edwards is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
  • Maine
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
  • Amor
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
  • Audubon
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Erhard
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Phelps
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Phelps is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ottertail
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Tansem
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Tansem is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tansem
    • Norwegian Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Norwegian Grove is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwegian Grove

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Vergas ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vergas.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Vergas:

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 Vergas, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Vergas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.