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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 Wrightstown (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 Wrightstown. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

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

  • Otter Tail County     (The home county of Wrightstown)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wrightstown, with the one closest to Wrightstown listed first.
    • Deer Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
    • Parkers Prairie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Wadena
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <1>
    • Henning
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Bluffton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Leaf City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Leaf City is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf City
    • Vining
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Urbank
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Urbank is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbank
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 52 people
    • Nirvana
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Nirvana is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nirvana
    • New York Mills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ottertail
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Clitherall
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Davies
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Davies is located in Otter Tail County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davies
  • Cass County
    • Ellis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Ellis is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wrightstown, with the one closest to Wrightstown listed first.
    • Rose City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Rose City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
    • Miltona
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Belle River
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Belle River is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
    • Carlos
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Millerville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Millerville is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
    • Nelson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Nelson is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
    • Garfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Alexandria
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Osakis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Brandon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Evansville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Melby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Melby is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melby
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wrightstown, with the one closest to Wrightstown listed first.
    • Lincoln
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Lincoln is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Motley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Cushing
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Todd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wrightstown, with the one closest to Wrightstown listed first.
    • Bertha
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hewitt
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Hewitt is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Eagle Bend
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Clarissa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Clotho
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Clotho is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clotho
    • Staples
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Browerville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Browerville is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • Philbrook
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Philbrook is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philbrook
    • Long Prairie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Wadena County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wrightstown, with the one closest to Wrightstown listed first.
    • Verndale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Aldrich
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
    • Sebeka
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Nimrod
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Wrightstown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wrightstown.

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

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

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

  • Wrightstown Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Zion & St. Johns Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Trefoldighed Menighed Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Bonar Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Paul's Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Hewitt Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Nebo Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (172 more) ...
    • Peace Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Gausdale Lutheran Church Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Immanuel Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)

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, Wrightstown had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Bertha
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Hewitt
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hewitt is located in Todd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • Parkers Prairie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Eagle Bend
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Deer Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Deer Creek is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
  • Verndale
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wadena
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Wadena is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,121 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadena <1>
  • Henning
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Aldrich
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Aldrich is located in Wadena County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldrich
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
  • Bluffton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Bluffton is located in Otter Tail County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Clarissa
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Miltona
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Vining
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Clotho
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Clotho is located in Todd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clotho
    • Belle River
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Belle River is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River

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

Newspapers Published in Wrightstown ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wrightstown.

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

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 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 Wrightstown:

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