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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 Wendell (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 Wendell. 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.

Wendell is located in Grant 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 Grant County: Douglas, Otter Tail, Pope, Stevens, Traverse & Wilkin.

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

  • Grant County     (The home county of Wendell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wendell, with the one closest to Wendell listed first.
    • Elbow Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Norcross
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norcross have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcross
      • Norcross is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
    • Erdahl
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Barrett
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barrett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
      • Barrett is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
    • Ashby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
      • Ashby is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashby <1>
    • Herman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Hoffman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Douglas County
  • Otter Tail County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wendell, with the one closest to Wendell listed first.
    • Western
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Western. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
      • Western is located in Otter Tail County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Western
      • From Wendell to Western
    • Dalton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fergus Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Underwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Underwood
      • Underwood is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Underwood <1>
    • Elizabeth
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
      • Elizabeth is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 170 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabeth <1>
    • Battle Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Clitherall
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clitherall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clitherall
      • Clitherall is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clitherall <1>
    • Urbank
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Urbank have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbank
      • Urbank is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Edwards
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Maine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
      • Maine is located in Otter Tail County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Maine
      • From Wendell to Maine
    • Erhard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erhard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erhard
      • Erhard is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erhard <1>
    • Nirvana
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pope County
    • Farwell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farwell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
      • Farwell is located in Pope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
  • Stevens County
    • Donnelly
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donnelly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnelly
      • Donnelly is located in Stevens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
  • Traverse County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wendell, with the one closest to Wendell listed first.
    • Charlesville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Tintah
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Wheaton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Dumont
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dumont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
      • Dumont is located in Traverse County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
  • Wilkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wendell, with the one closest to Wendell listed first.
    • Nashua
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashua have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
      • Nashua is located in Wilkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
    • Campbell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Campbell is located in Wilkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
    • Tenney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tenney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenney
      • Tenney is located in Wilkin County
      • Estimated population in 2011: 5 people
    • Foxhome
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foxhome have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhome
      • Foxhome is located in Wilkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Doran
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Doran. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doran
      • Doran is located in Wilkin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Doran
      • From Wendell to Doran
    • Childs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Childs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
      • Childs is located in Wilkin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Childs
      • From Wendell to Childs
    • Breckenridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Richland County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wendell, with the one closest to Wendell listed first.
    • Fairmount
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Wahpeton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wahpeton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahpeton
      • Wahpeton is located in Richland County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,728 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wahpeton <1>
    • Oswald
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oswald. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oswald
      • Oswald is located in Richland County (ND)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Oswald
      • From Wendell to Oswald
  • Roberts County (SD)
    • White Rock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Rock
      • White Rock is located in Roberts County (SD)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3 people

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

Cemeteries Near Wendell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wendell.

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

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

  • Trinity Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
    • 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.
  • Hereford Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hereford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hereford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Elbow Lake Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Elbow Lake Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Elbow Lake Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lawrence Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lawrence Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lawrence Presbyterian Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Loretto Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Ness Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Rock Prairie Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rock Prairie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rock Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sigdal Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sigdal Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sigdal Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hjerdal Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hjerdal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hjerdal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Aastad Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aastad Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Aastad Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Western Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Western Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Western Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (157 more) ...

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Wendell had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Wendell had a population of 165 people.

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

  • Elbow Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Western
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Western. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
    • Western is located in Otter Tail County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Western
    • From Wendell to Western
  • Thorsborg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thorsborg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorsborg
    • Thorsborg is located in Grant County
  • Tintah
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Norcross
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norcross have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norcross
    • Norcross is located in Grant County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
  • Barrett
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barrett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
    • Barrett is located in Grant County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 414 people
  • Erdahl
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Dalton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Ashby
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
    • Ashby is located in Grant County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashby <1>
  • Parkdale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
    • Parkdale is located in Otter Tail County
  • Herman
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Campbell
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
    • Campbell is located in Wilkin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Tenney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tenney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenney
      • Tenney is located in Wilkin County
      • Estimated population in 2011: 5 people
    • Melby
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Fergus Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Wendell ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wendell.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Wendell. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Wendell and those printed in the larger area surrounding Wendell.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6> of Wendell.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Wendell:

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

The official website for Grant County: www.co.grant.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>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.
<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>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 Wendell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wendell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wendell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.0359, Longitude: -96.1008    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025