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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 Manchester (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 Manchester. 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.

Manchester is located in Kingsbury 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 Kingsbury County: Beadle, Brookings, Clark, Hamlin, Lake, Miner & Sanborn.

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

  • Kingsbury County     (The home county of Manchester)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
    • Iroquois
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Esmond
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Esmond is located in Kingsbury County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmond
      • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
    • De Smet
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Bancroft
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Bancroft is located in Kingsbury County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bancroft
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
    • Osceola
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Osceola is located in Kingsbury County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
      • Estimated population in 2014: 90 people
    • Erwin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Preston
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Oldham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hetland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Badger
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Arlington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Beadle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
    • Yale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Cavour
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Morningside
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Morningside is located in Beadle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morningside
    • Huron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Huron is located in Beadle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huron <1>
    • Huron Colony
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Huron Colony is located in Beadle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 403 people
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
    • Pitrodie ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Pitrodie is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitrodie
      • Estimated population in 2014: 25 people
    • Success ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Success is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
      • Estimated population in 2014: 6,741 people
    • Willow Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Carpenter
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Vienna
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Merton ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Merton is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merton
      • Estimated population in 2014: 55 people
    • Naples
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Naples is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
  • Hamlin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
    • Bryant
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Norden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lake County
    • Ramona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Miner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
    • Carthage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Fedora
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Roswell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Roswell is located in Miner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
    • Vilas
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Vilas is located in Miner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
    • Howard
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Sanborn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Manchester, with the one closest to Manchester listed first.
    • Artesian
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Forestburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Forestburg is located in Sanborn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestburg
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 73 people
  • Spink County
    • LaDelle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • LaDelle is located in Spink County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaDelle

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

Cemeteries Near Manchester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Manchester.

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

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

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

  • Dow Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • De Smet Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Smet Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the De Smet Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of De Smet.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #96912 <3>
  • Esmond Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Faith Mennonite Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Dixon Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • LeSueur Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Spirt Lake Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (77 more) ...
    • Lake Preston Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Erwin Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwin Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Erwin Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the northwest of Erwin.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #96970 <3>
    • St. Williams Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Manchester had a population of 158 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2014, Manchester had a population of 65 people.

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

  • Iroquois
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Esmond
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Esmond is located in Kingsbury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmond
    • Estimated population in 2014: 60 people
  • De Smet
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Osceola
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Osceola is located in Kingsbury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
    • Estimated population in 2014: 90 people
  • Bancroft
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Bancroft is located in Kingsbury County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bancroft
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
  • Carthage
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Yale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Pitrodie ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Pitrodie is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitrodie
    • Estimated population in 2014: 25 people
  • Erwin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Cavour
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Success ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Success is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
    • Estimated population in 2014: 6,741 people
  • Lake Preston
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Sheffield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Sheffield is located in Beadle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
    • Willow Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Bryant
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Manchester ...

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 Manchester.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Manchester, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Manchester.

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 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 Manchester:

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