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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 Churchs Ferry (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 Churchs Ferry. 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.

Name Variations for Churchs Ferry ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Churchs Ferry: Churchs Fry. (or less commonly used: Churchs Frry.)
  • While the name of this city is Churchs Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Churchs Ferry may originally have been Church's Ferry.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Churchs Ferry might be written as Church Ferry.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Churchs Ferry is located in Ramsey 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 Ramsey County: Benson, Cavalier, Nelson, Towner & Walsh.

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

  • Ramsey County     (The home county of Churchs Ferry)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchs Ferry, with the one closest to Churchs Ferry listed first.
    • Penn
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Webster
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Garske
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garske
      • Garske is located in Ramsey County
    • Devils Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Devils Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devils Lake
      • Devils Lake is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,229 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Devils Lake <2>
    • Starkweather
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Joe
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Joe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Joe
      • Saint Joe is located in Ramsey County
    • Crary
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crary have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crary
      • Crary is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crary <2>
  • Benson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchs Ferry, with the one closest to Churchs Ferry listed first.
    • Niles
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niles have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niles
      • Niles is located in Benson County
    • Brinsmade
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brinsmade have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinsmade
      • Brinsmade is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brinsmade <2>
    • Leeds
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Minnewaukan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • York
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Fort Totten
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oberon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oberon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oberon
      • Oberon is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 101 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oberon <2>
    • Knox
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knox have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox
      • Knox is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Knox <2>
    • Saint Michael
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Isabel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Maddock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maddock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maddock
      • Maddock is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maddock <2>
    • Pleasant Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
      • Pleasant Lake is located in Benson County
    • Tokio
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cavalier County
    • Calio
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calio have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calio
      • Calio is located in Cavalier County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20 people
  • Eddy County
    • Sheyenne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Pierce County
    • Wolford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolford
      • Wolford is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolford <2>
  • Rolette County
  • Towner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Churchs Ferry, with the one closest to Churchs Ferry listed first.
    • Maza
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maza have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maza
      • Maza is located in Towner County
    • Cando
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cando have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cando
      • Cando is located in Towner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,008 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cando <2>
    • Egeland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Egeland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egeland
      • Egeland is located in Towner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Egeland <2>
    • Bisbee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bisbee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bisbee
      • Bisbee is located in Towner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bisbee <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Churchs Ferry ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Churchs Ferry.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Churchs Ferry. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Churchs Ferry and those printed in the larger area surrounding Churchs Ferry.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Churchs Ferry.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Churchs Ferry:

Cemeteries Near Churchs Ferry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Churchs Ferry.

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

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

  • Zion Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
  • Presbyterian Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presbyterian Cemetery
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul Cemetery
  • Almlie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Almlie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Almlie Cemetery
  • Brinsmade Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Wilmerth Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilmerth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilmerth Cemetery
  • Olson Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olson Cemetery
  • Leeds Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Leeds Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leeds Cemetery
  • Grand Harbor Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grand Harbor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grand Harbor Cemetery
  • Webster Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Webster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Webster Cemetery
  • Wahi Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Ostreim Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ostreim Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ostreim Cemetery
  • Continue List   (36 more) ...
    • Minnewaukan Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Minnewaukan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Minnewaukan Cemetery
    • St. Peter Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peter Cemetery
    • Our Saviors Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Saviors Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Saviors 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Churchs Ferry had a population of 430 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Churchs Ferry had a population of 12 people.

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

  • Penn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Brinsmade
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brinsmade have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinsmade
    • Brinsmade is located in Benson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brinsmade <2>
  • Grand Harbor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Harbor
    • Grand Harbor is located in Ramsey County
  • Leeds
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Minnewaukan
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Cando
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cando have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cando
    • Cando is located in Towner County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,008 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cando <2>
  • York
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Devils Lake
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Devils Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devils Lake
    • Devils Lake is located in Ramsey County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,229 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Devils Lake <2>
  • Starkweather
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Lallie
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lallie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lallie
    • Lallie is located in Benson County
  • Fort Totten
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Oberon
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oberon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oberon
    • Oberon is located in Benson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 101 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oberon <2>
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Knox
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knox have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox
      • Knox is located in Benson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Knox <2>
    • Bisbee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bisbee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bisbee
      • Bisbee is located in Towner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bisbee <2>
    • Crary
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crary have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crary
      • Crary is located in Ramsey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crary <2>

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

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Churchs Ferry) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Churchs Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.2686, Longitude: -99.1946       In this case, the coordinates for Churchs Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Churchs Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024