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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 Canton (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 Canton. 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 hospitals and 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.

Canton is located in Broadwater County.

To see how the shape of Montana's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Broadwater County: Gallatin, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark & Meagher.

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

  • Broadwater County     (The home county of Canton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canton, with the one closest to Canton listed first.
    • Townsend
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Winston
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Diamond City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Diamond City is located in Broadwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
    • Whites City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Whites City is located in Broadwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whites City
    • Crow Creek City ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Crow Creek City is located in Broadwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek City
    • Radersburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Toston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Copper City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Copper City is located in Broadwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper City
  • Gallatin County
    • Francis
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Francis is located in Gallatin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canton, with the one closest to Canton listed first.
    • Montana City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Elkhorn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Elkhorn is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Alhambra
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Alhambra is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alhambra
    • Clancy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Jefferson City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Lewis and Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canton, with the one closest to Canton listed first.
    • Cavetown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Cavetown is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavetown
    • East Helena
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Helena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Helena is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,737 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helena <1>
    • Park City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Park City is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
  • Meagher County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canton, with the one closest to Canton listed first.
    • Fort Logan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort Logan is located in Meagher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
    • Langford City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Langford City is located in Meagher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langford City
    • White Sulphur Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Canton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Canton.

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

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

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

  • Lavina Chapel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavina Chapel Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lavina Chapel Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north of Townsend.
    • The Lavina Chapel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Duck Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2264764 <3>
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Centerville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Beaver Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Deep Creek Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Creek Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Deep Creek Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<2> to the southeast of Townsend.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #212216 <3>
  • Winston Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Diamond City Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Parker Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Radersburg Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Shull Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • The Shull Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shull Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2384725 <3>
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Cemetery Island / Canyon Ferry Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Turner Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Anns Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Canton had a population of 22 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Townsend
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Toston
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Clasoil
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Clasoil is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clasoil
  • East Helena
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Montana City
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Elkhorn
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Elkhorn is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Fort Logan
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Logan is located in Meagher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
  • Clancy
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Alhambra
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Alhambra is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alhambra
  • Jefferson City
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Corbin
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Corbin is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corbin
  • Sixteen
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sixteen is located in Meagher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixteen
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Helena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Helena is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,737 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helena <1>
    • Wickes ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Wickes is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickes
    • Amazon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Amazon is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amazon

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

Newspapers Published in Canton ...

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 106 newspapers that have been published in the area around Canton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Canton, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Canton.

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 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 Canton:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Canton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Canton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.