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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 Farwell (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 Farwell. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Farwell is primarily located in Hanson County. A portion of Farwell extends into Sanborn 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 Hanson County: Davison, Hutchinson, McCook, Miner & Sanborn.

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

  • Hanson County     (The home county of Farwell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Farwell, with the one closest to Farwell listed first.
    • Plano
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Plano is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Estimated population in 2014: 104 people
    • Fulton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Epiphany
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Epiphany is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epiphany
      • Estimated population in 2014: 103 people
    • Farmer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Alexandria
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockport Colony
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Rockport Colony is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 32 people
    • Emery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Aurora County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Farwell, with the one closest to Farwell listed first.
    • Storla
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Storla is located in Aurora County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Storla
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 6 people
    • Plankinton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Davison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Farwell, with the one closest to Farwell listed first.
    • Loomis
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mitchell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • River Bluff Addition
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • River Bluff Addition is located in Davison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bluff Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 13 people
    • Mount Vernon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Ethan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Douglas County
    • Hillside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Hillside is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
      • Estimated population in 2014: 31 people
  • Hutchinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Farwell, with the one closest to Farwell listed first.
    • New Elm Springs Colony
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • New Elm Springs Colony is located in Hutchinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Elm Springs Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 600 people
    • Dimock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Milltown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Jerauld County
  • Kingsbury County
    • Esmond
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Esmond is located in Kingsbury County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmond
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
  • Lake County
    • Winfred
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • McCook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Farwell, with the one closest to Farwell listed first.
    • Spencer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Unityville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Unityville is located in McCook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unityville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 52 people
    • Salem
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Salem is located in McCook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
    • Salem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Bridgewater
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Miner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Farwell, with the one closest to Farwell listed first.
    • Fedora
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Roswell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Roswell is located in Miner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
    • Vilas
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Canova
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Howard
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Carthage
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Sanborn County

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

Cemeteries Near Farwell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Farwell.

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

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

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

  • Farwell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Redstone Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Rock Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Butler Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Graceland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Graceland Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Diana Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Anthonys Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Fedora Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sunset Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • West Lawn Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (69 more) ...
    • St. Peter Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Roswell Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Farwell had a population of 20 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Fulton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Artesian
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Mitchell
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Letcher
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Farmer
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Roswell
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Roswell is located in Miner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
    • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
  • Alexandria
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Forestburg
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Spencer
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Mount Vernon
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Vilas
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Canova
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Farwell ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Farwell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Farwell, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Farwell.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Farwell:

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