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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 Brentford (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 Brentford. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Brentford is located in Spink County.

To see how the shape of South 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 Spink County: Beadle, Brown, Clark, Day, Edmunds, Faulk & Hand.

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

  • Spink County     (The home county of Brentford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brentford, with the one closest to Brentford listed first.
    • Mellette
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Conde
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Duxbury
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Duxbury is located in Spink County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
      • Estimated population in 2014: 531 people
    • Northville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Turton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Frankfort
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Doland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Redfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Spink Colony
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Spink Colony is located in Spink County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spink Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 155 people
    • Tulare
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brentford, with the one closest to Brentford listed first.
    • Randolph
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Randolph is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
    • Stratford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Verdon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Verdon is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5 people
    • Mansfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Warner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Ferney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bath Corner
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Bath Corner is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath Corner
    • Jobee Acres
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jobee Acres is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jobee Acres
      • Estimated population in 2014: 15 people
    • Bath
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • James
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • James is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
    • Melrose Addition
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Melrose Addition is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 221 people
    • Aberdeen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brentford, with the one closest to Brentford listed first.
    • Raymond
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Crocker
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Day County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brentford, with the one closest to Brentford listed first.
    • Crandall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Crandall is located in Day County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crandall
    • Andover
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Butler
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Butler is located in Day County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
    • Bristol
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Edmunds County
    • Mina
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Mina is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mina
      • Mina has also been known as:
      • Cortland
      • Cortlandt
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mina <1>
  • Faulk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brentford, with the one closest to Brentford listed first.
    • Chelsea
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Chelsea is located in Faulk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
    • Zell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Zell is located in Faulk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zell
      • Estimated population in 2014: 65 people
    • Devoe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Devoe is located in Faulk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devoe
      • Estimated population in 2014: 23 people
    • Rockham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cresbard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Brentford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brentford.

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

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

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

  • Plainview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Baldwin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Clifton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • East Rondell Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Verdon Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Scandinavia Lutheran Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Warner Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Ashton Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (42 more) ...
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • St. Pauls Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • German Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)

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>

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

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

  • Mellette
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Conde
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Duxbury
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Duxbury is located in Spink County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
    • Estimated population in 2014: 531 people
  • Verdon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Verdon is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5 people
  • Northville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Turton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Mansfield
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Ashton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Warner
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Athol
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Athol is located in Spink County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athol
  • Ferney
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Rudolph
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rudolph is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudolph
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Frankfort
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Bath
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Redfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Brentford ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brentford.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Brentford. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Brentford and those printed in the larger area surrounding Brentford.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Brentford.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Brentford:

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brentford) 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 Brentford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.