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 Medary (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 Medary. 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 doctors and 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.
Medary is located in Brookings 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 Brookings County: Lincoln (MN), Deuel, Hamlin, Kingsbury, Lake & Moody.
Below are the counties that are near Medary. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Medary:
- Brookings County (The home county of Medary)
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Brookings
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Aurora
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Sunnyview
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Sunnyview is located in Brookings County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyview
- Estimated population in 2014: 17 people
- Bushnell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bushnell is located in Brookings County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Volga
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Sinai
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Elkton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- North Grove Addition
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- North Grove Addition is located in Brookings County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Grove Addition
- Estimated population in 2014: 471 people
- Bruce
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- White
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Deuel County
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Johnsonville
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Johnsonville is located in Deuel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonville
- Toronto
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Astoria
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hamlin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Estelline
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Dempster
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Dempster is located in Hamlin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dempster
- Alsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Alsville is located in Hamlin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alsville
- Stone Bridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Stone Bridge is located in Hamlin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Bridge
- Estimated population in 2014: 105 people
- Kingsbury County
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Arlington
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hetland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Oldham
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Badger
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Preston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Nunda
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Prairie Queen ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie Queen is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Queen
- Rutland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wentworth
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Brant Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Brant Lake is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brant Lake
- Madison
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Peninsula Park
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Peninsula Park is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peninsula Park
- Estimated population in 2014: 32 people
- Chester
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Ramona
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Prairie Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie Village is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
- Estimated population in 2014: 18 people
- Franklin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Franklin is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Estimated population in 2014: 333 people
- Junius
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Junius is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junius
- Minnehaha County
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Dell Rapids
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Huntimer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Huntimer is located in Minnehaha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntimer
- Estimated population in 2014: 590 people
- Colton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Moody County
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Dyce ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Dyce is located in Moody County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyce
- Flandreau
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Colman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Egan
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ward
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Lone Tree
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Lone Tree is located in Moody County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Tree
- Estimated population in 2014: 14 people
- Sioux Falls Junction
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Sioux Falls Junction is located in Moody County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sioux Falls Junction
- Estimated population in 2014: 119 people
- Trent
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Lincoln County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Lake Benton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Hendricks
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Pipestone County (MN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Airlie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Airlie is located in Pipestone County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airlie
- Pipestone
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ihlen
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Holland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Holland is located in Pipestone County (MN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Medary, see our County-by-County Page for Medary.
Cemeteries Near Medary ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Medary.
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 Medary - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Medary covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Lake Campbell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Yeo Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- St. Thomas More Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Thomas More Catholic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Thomas More Catholic Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Brookings.
- The St. Thomas More Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
- Calvary Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2136600 <2>
- Greenwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Greenwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Brookings.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97065 <2>
- Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Olson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- South Lake Campbell Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- West Lake Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Auburn Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Auburn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Auburn Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the east of Rutland.
- Fairlawn Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bethania Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Clare Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (107 more) ...
- North Clare Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- First Lutheran Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie Queen Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
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 Medary in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Medary.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Medary, with the one closest to Medary listed first.
- Brookings
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Aurora
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bushnell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bushnell is located in Brookings County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Volga
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie Queen ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie Queen is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Queen
- Sinai
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Flandreau
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Colman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Egan
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Elkton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Bruce
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Sioux Falls Junction
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Sioux Falls Junction is located in Moody County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sioux Falls Junction
- Estimated population in 2014: 119 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Ward
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- White
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wentworth
(17 miles [27.4 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 Medary. See our List of 1890's Communities around Medary.
Newspapers Published in Medary ...
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 83 newspapers that have been published in the area around Medary.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Medary, 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 Medary.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Medary:
- Websites specific to South Dakota
- Pages specific to Brookings County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Deuel County
- Hamlin County
- Kingsbury County
- Lake County
- Minnehaha County
- Moody County
- Lincoln County
- Pipestone County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for South Dakota
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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Medary) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Medary, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |