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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 Shawnee (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 Shawnee. 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 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.

Shawnee is located in Grand Forks 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 Grand Forks County: Polk (MN), Nelson, Steele, Traill & Walsh.

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

  • Grand Forks County     (The home county of Shawnee)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shawnee, with the one closest to Shawnee listed first.
    • McCanna
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
    • Niagara
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Larimore
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Orr
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Orr is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
    • Arvilla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Kempton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Kempton is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempton
    • Inkster
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Gilby
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <1>
    • Northwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Emerado
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Mekinock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Johnstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
    • Kelly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
  • Nelson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shawnee, with the one closest to Shawnee listed first.
    • Petersburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Michigan City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Michigan City is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Michigan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Whitman
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Whitman is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitman
    • Aneta
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Mapes
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Mapes is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapes
    • McVille
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Harrisburg ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Harrisburg is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
    • Pekin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakota
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Steele County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shawnee, with the one closest to Shawnee listed first.
    • Sharon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Finley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Traill County
    • Hatton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Walsh County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shawnee, with the one closest to Shawnee listed first.
    • Fordville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Conway
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Conway is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people
    • Forest River
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Praha ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Praha is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Praha
    • Pisek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Ardoch
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lankin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Minto
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Park River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Shawnee ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shawnee.

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

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

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

  • Elm Grove Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Niagara Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bellevue Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bellevue Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the north of Larimore.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #101713 <3>
  • St. Andrews Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Union Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Logan Center Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Arvilla Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Inkster Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Melrose Church Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Prairie Home Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Forest River Colony Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • West Union Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (60 more) ...
    • Herlickson Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bethania Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Gran Church Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gran Church Cemetery
      • The Gran Church Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Rosset Family 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Shawnee had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • McCanna
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
  • Larimore
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Niagara
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Orr
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Orr is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
  • Kempton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Kempton is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempton
  • Arvilla
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Petersburg
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Inkster
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Gilby
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <1>
  • Northwood
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Michigan City
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Michigan City is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • Michigan
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Mekinock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Johnstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
    • Conway
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Conway is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21 people

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

Newspapers Published in Shawnee ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shawnee.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shawnee, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shawnee.

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 Shawnee:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Shawnee) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Shawnee, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.