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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 Kensal (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 Kensal. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Kensal is located in Stutsman 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 Stutsman County: Barnes, Foster, Griggs, Kidder, LaMoure, Logan & Wells.

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

  • Stutsman County     (The home county of Kensal)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kensal, with the one closest to Kensal listed first.
    • Courtenay
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Courtenay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courtenay
      • Courtenay is located in Stutsman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 45 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Courtenay <2>
    • Pingree
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Buchanan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buchanan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchanan
      • Buchanan is located in Stutsman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buchanan <2>
    • Spiritwood Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spiritwood Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spiritwood Lake
      • Spiritwood Lake is located in Stutsman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
    • Parkhurst
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bloom
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bloom. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
      • Bloom is located in Stutsman County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bloom
      • From Kensal to Bloom
    • Jamestown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Spiritwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Frontier Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frontier Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Village
      • Frontier Village is located in Stutsman County
    • Woodworth
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodworth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodworth
      • Woodworth is located in Stutsman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodworth <2>
    • Jamestown Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Barnes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kensal, with the one closest to Kensal listed first.
    • Wimbledon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wimbledon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wimbledon
      • Wimbledon is located in Barnes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 189 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wimbledon <2>
    • Leal
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leal
      • Leal is located in Barnes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18 people
    • Dazey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dazey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dazey
      • Dazey is located in Barnes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dazey <2>
    • Rogers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rogers have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
      • Rogers is located in Barnes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rogers <2>
  • Eddy County
  • Foster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kensal, with the one closest to Kensal listed first.
    • Glenfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenfield
      • Glenfield is located in Foster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenfield <2>
    • Melville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Grace City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grace City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace City
      • Grace City is located in Foster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grace City <2>
    • McHenry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Carrington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Guptill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Barlow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Griggs County

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

Cemeteries Near Kensal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kensal.

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

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

  • Kensal Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • St. James Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Courtenay Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Courtenay Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Courtenay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eastman Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eastman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eastman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Edmunds Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Brethren Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brethren Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brethren Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rest Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zion Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mabel Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mabel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mabel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Glenfield Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (29 more) ...
    • St. Boniface Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Boniface Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Boniface Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Prairie View Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie View Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Grace City Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grace City Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grace City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<6>

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

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

  • Pingree
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Glenfield
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenfield
    • Glenfield is located in Foster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenfield <2>
  • Melville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Buchanan
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buchanan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchanan
    • Buchanan is located in Stutsman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buchanan <2>
  • Carrington
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Parkhurst
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Hannaford
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Dazey
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dazey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dazey
    • Dazey is located in Barnes County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dazey <2>
  • Barlow
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Jamestown
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Bloom
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bloom. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
    • Bloom is located in Stutsman County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bloom
    • From Kensal to Bloom
  • Jessie
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Urbana
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Urbana have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbana
    • Urbana is located in Barnes County
  • Odell ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Odell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
    • Odell is located in Barnes County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Kensal ...

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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kensal.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Kensal. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Kensal and those printed in the larger area surrounding Kensal.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Kensal.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Kensal:

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

The official website for State of North Dakota: https://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>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Kensal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kensal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.3019, Longitude: -98.7327    
<6>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 Kensal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025