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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 Fingal (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 Fingal. 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.

Fingal is located in Barnes County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Barnes County: Cass, Griggs, LaMoure, Ransom, Steele & Stutsman.

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

  • Barnes County     (The home county of Fingal)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fingal, with the one closest to Fingal listed first.
    • Nome
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Kathryn
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Oriska
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • North Valley City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • North Valley City is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Valley City
    • Valley City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Litchville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Sanborn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Ashtabula ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Ashtabula is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashtabula
    • Eckelson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rogers
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Pillsbury
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Pillsbury is located in Barnes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillsbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fingal, with the one closest to Fingal listed first.
    • Alice
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Alice is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
    • Tower City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Buffalo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chaffee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Magnolia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Magnolia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
    • Ayr
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Wheatland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Absaraka
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Leonard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Nolan ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Nolan is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolan
    • Casselton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Page
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • LaMoure County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fingal, with the one closest to Fingal listed first.
    • Marion
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Verona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Ransom County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fingal, with the one closest to Fingal listed first.
    • Enderlin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Ransom
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Sheldon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Anselm
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Anselm is located in Ransom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anselm
    • Lisbon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Elliott
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Elliott is located in Ransom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25 people

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

Cemeteries Near Fingal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fingal.

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

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

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

  • Hill Side Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Petri Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Petri Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Petri Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the southwest of Nome.
    • The St. Petri Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Peters Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2405853 <2>
  • Sheyenne Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Waldheim Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Prairie Rest Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Bernards Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (58 more) ...
    • Oriska Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Sunnyside Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Fillmore Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)

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 in 1895, Fingal had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Fingal had a population of 86 people.

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

  • Lucca
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lucca is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucca
  • Cuba
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cuba is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
  • Daily
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Daily is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daily
  • Oriska
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Tower City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hastings
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Hastings is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings
  • Buffalo
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Valley City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Fort Ransom
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Sheldon
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Berea
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Berea is located in Barnes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
  • Buttzville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Buttzville is located in Ransom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttzville
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Magnolia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Magnolia is located in Cass County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
    • Anselm
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Anselm is located in Ransom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anselm
    • Lisbon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Fingal ...

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 81 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fingal.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Fingal. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Fingal and those printed in the larger area surrounding Fingal.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Fingal.

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 websites either 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 Fingal:

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>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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fingal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Fingal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.