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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 Butler (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 Butler. 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 doctors 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.

Butler is located in Day County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Day County: Brown, Clark, Codington, Grant, Marshall, Roberts & Spink.

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

  • Day County     (The home county of Butler)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Lily
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Bristol
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bristol have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
      • Bristol is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol <2>
    • Holmquist
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Webster
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Crandall
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Andover
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Pierpont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierpont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierpont
      • Pierpont is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierpont <2>
    • Roslyn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roslyn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roslyn
      • Roslyn is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roslyn <2>
    • Waubay
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Grenville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grenville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grenville
      • Grenville is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grenville <2>
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Verdon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Verdon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdon
      • Verdon is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Verdon
      • From Butler to Verdon
    • Ferney
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Groton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
      • Groton is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,475 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groton <2>
    • Randolph
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Randolph. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Randolph is located in Brown County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Randolph
      • From Butler to Randolph
    • James
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for James. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
      • James is located in Brown County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to James
      • From Butler to James
    • Stratford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stratford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratford
      • Stratford is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stratford <2>
    • Huffton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huffton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffton
      • Huffton is located in Brown County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 316 people
    • Putney
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Crocker
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Bradley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Garden City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Clark
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Elrod
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elrod have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
      • Elrod is located in Clark County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 92 people
    • Raymond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Raymond is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymond <2>
  • Codington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Wallace
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace
      • Wallace is located in Codington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallace <2>
    • Florence
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Codington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Florence <2>
    • Henry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Langford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Eden
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
      • Eden is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <2>
    • Spain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spain have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spain
      • Spain is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 989 people
  • Roberts County
    • Ortley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ortley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortley
      • Ortley is located in Roberts County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ortley <2>
  • Spink County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Butler, with the one closest to Butler listed first.
    • Conde
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Turton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turton
      • Turton is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turton <2>
    • Brentford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brentford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brentford
      • Brentford is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brentford <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Butler ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Butler.

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

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

  • Prairie Mound Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethany Evangelical Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethany Evangelical Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethany Evangelical Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Ansgaar Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Ansgaar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Ansgaar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Saviors Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Saviors Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Saviors Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Our Saviors Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Saviors Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Saviors Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Otto's Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Otto's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Otto's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Sweden Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Sweden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Sweden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hosanger Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hosanger Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hosanger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (66 more) ...
    • Webster Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Webster Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Webster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old St. Otto's Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. Otto's Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. Otto's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bergen Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bergen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bergen 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Butler had a population of 75 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Butler had a population of 16 people.

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

  • Lily
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Bristol
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bristol have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
    • Bristol is located in Day County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol <2>
  • Webster
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bradley
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Andover
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Pierpont
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierpont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierpont
    • Pierpont is located in Day County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pierpont <2>
  • Julian ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Julian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julian
    • Julian is located in Clark County
  • Verdon
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Verdon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdon
    • Verdon is located in Brown County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Verdon
    • From Butler to Verdon
  • Roslyn
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roslyn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roslyn
    • Roslyn is located in Day County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roslyn <2>
  • Ferney
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Conde
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Waubay
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Garden City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Turton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turton
      • Turton is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turton <2>
    • Groton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
      • Groton is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,475 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groton <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Butler ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Butler.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Butler, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Butler.

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 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 Butler:

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

The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Butler) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Butler. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.2587, Longitude: -97.7126       In this case, the coordinates for Butler 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 Butler, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 16 Jul 2025