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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 James (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 James. 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.

Name Variations for James ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

While the name of this community is James, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So James may originally have been Jame's.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

James is located in Brown 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 Brown County: Dickey (ND), Sargent (ND), Day, Edmunds, Faulk, Marshall, McPherson & Spink.

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

  • Brown County     (The home county of James)
    • The following are listed by their distance from James, with the one closest to James listed first.
    • Groton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Tacoma Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Bath Corner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Bath
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Putney
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jobee Acres
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jobee Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jobee Acres
      • Jobee Acres is located in Brown County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 15 people
    • Ferney
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Huffton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huffton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • Columbia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Stratford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stratford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Prairie Wood Village Addition
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Wood Village Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Wood Village Addition
      • Prairie Wood Village Addition is located in Brown County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
    • Melrose Addition
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melrose Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose Addition
      • Melrose Addition is located in Brown County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 221 people
  • Day County
    • The following are listed by their distance from James, with the one closest to James listed first.
    • Andover
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Pierpont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierpont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Bristol
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bristol have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Crandall
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Butler
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Butler is located in Day County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Butler
      • From James to Butler
    • Holmquist
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Edmunds County
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from James, with the one closest to James listed first.
    • Langford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Amherst
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Spain
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
    • West Britton ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Britton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Britton
      • West Britton is located in Marshall County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,368 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to West Britton
      • From James to West Britton
  • McPherson County
    • Wetonka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wetonka have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetonka
      • Wetonka is located in McPherson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7 people
  • Spink County
    • The following are listed by their distance from James, with the one closest to James listed first.
    • Duxbury
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duxbury have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
      • Duxbury is located in Spink County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 531 people
    • Brentford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brentford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Conde
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Mellette
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mellette have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mellette
      • Mellette is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mellette <3>
    • Northville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northville
      • Northville is located in Spink County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Northville <3>
    • Turton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>

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

Cemeteries Near James ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of James.

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

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

  • James Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Groton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Groton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Groton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • German Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the German Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the German Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Scandinavia Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Sunset Memorial Gardens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Rondell Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Rondell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Rondell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Augustana Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Augustana Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Augustana Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • All Saints Catholic Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Andover Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Andover Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Andover Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (39 more) ...
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Oakwood Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakwood Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Warner Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Warner Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Warner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<7>

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

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

  • Groton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • Bath
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Putney
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Plana
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plana have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plana
    • Plana is located in Brown County
  • Ferney
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Columbia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Huffton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huffton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
  • Ordway
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ordway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordway
    • Ordway is located in Brown County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 306 people
  • Aberdeen
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aberdeen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
    • Aberdeen is located in Brown County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,180 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aberdeen <3>
  • Andover
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Warner
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Verdon
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • 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.<4>
    • 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 James to Verdon
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Rudolph
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rudolph have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudolph
      • Rudolph is located in Brown County
    • Claremont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Pierpont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierpont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>

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

Newspapers Published in James ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around James.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of James, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for James.

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 James:

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

The official website for Brown County: www.brown.sd.us/

The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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- James) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in James. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.4644, Longitude: -98.2062       In this case, the coordinates for James have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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.
<7>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 James, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025