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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 Alexander (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 Alexander. 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.

Alexander is located in McKenzie County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of McKenzie County: Richland (MT), Wibaux (MT), Billings, Dunn, Golden Valley, Mountrail & Williams.

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

  • McKenzie County     (The home county of Alexander)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alexander, with the one closest to Alexander listed first.
    • Rawson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rawson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawson
      • Rawson is located in McKenzie County
    • Charbonneau
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charbonneau
      • Charbonneau is located in McKenzie County
    • Arnegard
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arnegard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnegard
      • Arnegard is located in McKenzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arnegard <2>
    • Cartwright
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Watford City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Watford City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watford City
      • Watford City is located in McKenzie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,944 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watford City <2>
    • Harding
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harding
      • Harding is located in McKenzie County
    • Dore
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dore
      • Dore is located in McKenzie County
    • Schafer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schafer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schafer
      • Schafer is located in McKenzie County
    • Banks ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Banks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
      • Banks is located in McKenzie County
  • Williams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alexander, with the one closest to Alexander listed first.
    • Trenton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Jessie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Jessie
      • Lake Jessie is located in Williams County
    • Williston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Springbrook
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springbrook
      • Springbrook is located in Williams County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
  • Richland County (MT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alexander, with the one closest to Alexander listed first.
    • Fairview
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Richland County (MT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 882 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairview <2>
    • Sidney
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Sidney is located in Richland County (MT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,297 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Alexander ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alexander.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Alexander. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Alexander and those printed in the larger area surrounding Alexander.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Alexander.

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 Alexander:

Cemeteries Near Alexander ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alexander.

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

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

  • Alexander Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alexander Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alexander Cemetery
  • Rawson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rawson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rawson Cemetery
  • Charbonneau Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Camp Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camp Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Creek Cemetery
  • Nameless Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nameless Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nameless Cemetery
  • Wilmington Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilmington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilmington Cemetery
  • Yellowstone Point Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yellowstone Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yellowstone Point Cemetery
  • Zoar Lutheran Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
  • Spring Grove Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Grove Cemetery
  • Red Wing Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Wing Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Wing Cemetery
  • Tepee Buttes Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tepee Buttes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tepee Buttes Cemetery
  • Continue List   (24 more) ...
    • Hauges Norwegian Lutheran Church Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hauges Norwegian Lutheran Church Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the northwest of Williston.
      • The Hauges Norwegian Lutheran Church Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Hauge Cemetery
      • Ploom Creek Hauges Norwegian Lutheran Chuch Cemetery
      • Ploom Creek Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hauges Norwegian Lutheran Church Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2251842 <4>
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview 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.<5>

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

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

  • Trenton
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Buford
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buford
    • Buford is located in Williams County
  • Williston
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Avoca
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avoca have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
    • Avoca is located in Williams County
  • Springbrook
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springbrook
    • Springbrook is located in Williams County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people

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

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

The official website for State of North Dakota: www.nd.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Alexander) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alexander. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.8441, Longitude: -103.6424    
<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 Alexander, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024