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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 Elgin (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 Elgin. 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.

Elgin is located in Antelope County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Antelope County: Boone, Holt, Knox, Madison, Pierce & Wheeler.

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

  • Antelope County     (The home county of Elgin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elgin, with the one closest to Elgin listed first.
    • Oakdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Neligh
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Clearwater
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearwater have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearwater
      • Clearwater is located in Antelope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clearwater <1>
    • Royal
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Royal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
      • Royal is located in Antelope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Royal <1>
    • Brunswick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brunswick have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brunswick
      • Brunswick is located in Antelope County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brunswick <1>
    • Orchard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elgin, with the one closest to Elgin listed first.
    • Petersburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
      • Petersburg is located in Boone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petersburg <1>
    • Loretto
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
      • Loretto is located in Boone County
    • Akron
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Akron have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
      • Akron is located in Boone County
    • Albion
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albion have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
      • Albion is located in Boone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,558 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Albion <1>
    • Vorhees
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vorhees
      • Vorhees is located in Boone County
    • Boone
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone
      • Boone is located in Boone County
    • Primrose
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Primrose have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Primrose
      • Primrose is located in Boone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Primrose <1>
    • Cedar Rapids
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rapids
      • Cedar Rapids is located in Boone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 351 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Rapids <1>
    • Saint Edward
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Greeley County
    • Spalding
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spalding have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spalding
      • Spalding is located in Greeley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 432 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spalding <1>
  • Holt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elgin, with the one closest to Elgin listed first.
    • Deloit
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deloit
      • Deloit is located in Holt County
    • Knievels Corner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knievels Corner
      • Knievels Corner is located in Holt County
    • Ewing
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ewing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
      • Ewing is located in Holt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 368 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ewing <1>
    • Emporia ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Emporia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emporia
      • Emporia is located in Holt County
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elgin, with the one closest to Elgin listed first.
    • Tilden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tilden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilden
      • Tilden is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 936 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tilden <1>
    • Emerick
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerick
      • Emerick is located in Madison County
    • Meadow Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Grove
      • Meadow Grove is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meadow Grove <1>
    • Newman Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Battle Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Fairview ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Madison County
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elgin, with the one closest to Elgin listed first.
    • Foster
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Plainview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
      • Plainview is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,197 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plainview <1>
  • Platte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elgin, with the one closest to Elgin listed first.
    • Lindsay
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rosenburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosenburg
      • Rosenburg is located in Platte County
    • Saint Bernard
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Bernard
      • Saint Bernard is located in Platte County
  • Wheeler County
    • Bartlett
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Elgin ...

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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elgin.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Elgin:

Cemeteries Near Elgin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elgin.

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

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

  • West Cedar Valley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Cedar Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Cedar Valley Cemetery
  • St. Boniface Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Boniface Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Boniface Cemetery
  • St. Bonaventure Catholic Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Oakdale Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
  • Zion West Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion West Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion West Cemetery
  • Laurel Hill Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laurel Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurel Hill Cemetery
  • Lutheran Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lutheran Cemetery
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • LDS Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the LDS Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The LDS Cemetery has also been known as:
    • LDS Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the LDS Cemetery
  • Continue List   (63 more) ...
    • St. Patricks Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patricks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patricks Cemetery
    • Wolf Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wolf Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wolf Cemetery
    • Clearwater Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clearwater Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clearwater 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Elgin had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Elgin had a population of 613 people.

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

  • Petersburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
    • Petersburg is located in Boone County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petersburg <1>
  • Oakdale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Neligh
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Closter
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Closter have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Closter
    • Closter is located in Boone County
  • Tilden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tilden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilden
    • Tilden is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 936 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tilden <1>
  • Clearwater
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clearwater have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearwater
    • Clearwater is located in Antelope County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clearwater <1>
  • Loretto
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
    • Loretto is located in Boone County
  • Deloit
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deloit
    • Deloit is located in Holt County
  • Akron
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Akron have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
    • Akron is located in Boone County
  • Emerick
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerick
    • Emerick is located in Madison County
  • Meadow Grove
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Grove
    • Meadow Grove is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meadow Grove <1>
  • Albion
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albion have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
    • Albion is located in Boone County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,558 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Albion <1>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Newman Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Ewing
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ewing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
      • Ewing is located in Holt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 368 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ewing <1>
    • Cumminsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cumminsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumminsville
      • Cumminsville is located in Wheeler County

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

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

The official website for Antelope County: www.co.antelope.ne.us/

The official website for State of Nebraska: www.nebraska.gov/

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 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.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Elgin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elgin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9832, Longitude: -98.0826       In this case, the coordinates for Elgin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<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 Elgin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024