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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Nelson. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Nelson to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Nelson, please Contact Us.

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 Nelson (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 Nelson. 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 and doctors 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Nelson is historic, it would have been located within present day Fergus County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Fergus County: Blaine, Chouteau, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum, Phillips & Wheatland.

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

  • Fergus County     (The home county of Nelson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nelson, with the one closest to Nelson listed first.
    • Giltedge ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giltedge
      • Giltedge is located in Fergus County
    • Maiden
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden
      • Maiden is located in Fergus County
    • Fort Maginnis ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Maginnis came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Maginnis
      • Fort Maginnis is located in Fergus County
    • Heath
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
      • Heath is located in Fergus County
    • Forestgrove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lewistown Heights
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewistown Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewistown Heights
      • Lewistown Heights is located in Fergus County
    • Lewistown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewistown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewistown
      • Lewistown is located in Fergus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,905 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewistown <3>
    • Hilger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Roy Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Roy Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Junction
      • Roy Junction is located in Fergus County
    • Glengarry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glengarry
      • Glengarry is located in Fergus County
    • Kendall ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
      • Kendall is located in Fergus County
    • Christina
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christina
      • Christina is located in Fergus County
  • Judith Basin County
    • Hobson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobson have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobson
      • Hobson is located in Judith Basin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hobson <3>
  • Petroleum County

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

Newspapers Published in Nelson ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Nelson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Nelson, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Nelson.

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 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 Nelson:

Cemeteries Near Nelson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Nelson.

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

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

  • Gilt Edge Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilt Edge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilt Edge Cemetery
  • Great Divide Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Ft. Maginnis Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Lewistown Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Hilger Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hilger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hilger Cemetery
  • Central Montana Memorial Gardens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Forest Grove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Ayers Ranch Colony Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Kendall Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kendall Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kendall Cemetery
  • Beaver Creek Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beaver Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beaver Creek Cemetery
  • Dengel Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dengel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dengel Cemetery
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Grass Range Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grass Range Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grass Range Cemetery
    • Roy Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roy Cemetery
    • Moore Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moore Cemetery

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.

While we didn't find Nelson in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Nelson.

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

  • Maiden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden
    • Maiden is located in Fergus County
  • Fort Maginnis ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Maginnis came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Maginnis
    • Fort Maginnis is located in Fergus County
  • Lewistown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewistown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewistown
    • Lewistown is located in Fergus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,905 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewistown <3>
  • Cottonwood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Cottonwood is located in Fergus County
  • Christina
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christina
    • Christina is located in Fergus County
  • Grass Range
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grass Range have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Range
    • Grass Range is located in Fergus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grass Range <3>

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

The official website for Fergus County: www.co.fergus.mt.us/

The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Nelson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Nelson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Nelson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.1047, Longitude: -109.2382       In this case, the coordinates for Nelson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024