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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 Western (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 Western. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 south 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.

Western is located in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Todd, Wadena & Wilkin.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Western)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Western, with the one closest to Western listed first.
    • Fergus Falls
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dalton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Elizabeth
      (15 miles [24.1 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>
    • Underwood
      (17 miles [27.4 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>
    • Rothsay
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rothsay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rothsay
      • Rothsay is located in Otter Tail County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 476 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rothsay <1>
    • Edwards
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Erhard
      (23 miles [37 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>
    • Battle Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Maine
      (25 miles [40.2 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 Western to Maine
    • Clitherall
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • Amor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Amor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amor
      • Amor is located in Otter Tail County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Amor
      • From Western to Amor
    • Pelican Rapids
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Western, with the one closest to Western listed first.
    • Melby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Evansville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Millerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Brandon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Western, with the one closest to Western listed first.
    • Wendell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Elbow Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashby
      (18 miles [29 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>
    • Norcross
      (19 miles [30.6 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
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Barrett
      (21 miles [33.8 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
    • Herman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Hoffman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Traverse County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Western, with the one closest to Western listed first.
    • Tintah
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Charlesville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Wheaton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Wilkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Western, with the one closest to Western listed first.
    • Nashua
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
    • Foxhome
      (10 miles [16.1 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
    • Campbell
      (11 miles [17.7 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
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
    • Doran
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • 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 Western to Doran
    • Childs
      (17 miles [27.4 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 Western to Childs
    • Breckenridge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Lawndale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lawndale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
      • Lawndale is located in Wilkin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lawndale
      • From Western to Lawndale
  • Richland County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Western, with the one closest to Western listed first.
    • Fairmount
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Wahpeton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • 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
      (26 miles [41.8 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 Western to Oswald
    • Dwight
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Great Bend
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Bend
      • Great Bend is located in Richland County (ND)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Great Bend <1>
  • Roberts County (SD)
    • White Rock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 Western, see our County-by-County Page for Western.

Cemeteries Near Western ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Western.

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

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

  • Western Presbyterian Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Emmanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emmanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emmanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Western Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • 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.
  • Aastad Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • 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.
  • Lawrence Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • 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.
  • Rock Prairie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.
  • Vukku Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vukku Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vukku Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • 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
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • 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.
  • Knollwood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Knollwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Knollwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (152 more) ...
    • Bethlehem Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old Vikku Lutheran Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Vikku Lutheran Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Vikku Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sarpsborg Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sarpsborg Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sarpsborg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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, Western had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Wendell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Parkdale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • French
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for French have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French
    • French is located in Otter Tail County
  • Fergus Falls
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Campbell
    (11 miles [17.7 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
  • Tintah
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Dalton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Everdell
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Everdell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everdell
    • Everdell is located in Wilkin County
  • Tenney
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • 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
  • Carlisle
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlisle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
    • Carlisle is located in Otter Tail County
  • Wall Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wall Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall Lake
    • Wall Lake is located in Otter Tail County
  • Doran
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • 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 Western to Doran
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Elbow Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Elizabeth
      (15 miles [24.1 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>
    • Childs
      (17 miles [27.4 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 Western to Childs

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

Newspapers Published in Western ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Western.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Western, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Western.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Western:

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

The official website for Otter Tail County: www.co.otter-tail.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 Western, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Western) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Western. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.1521, Longitude: -96.1831       In this case, the coordinates for Western have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025