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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 Spencer (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 Spencer. 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 hospitals and 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.

Spencer is located in McCook 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 McCook County: Hanson, Hutchinson, Lake, Miner, Minnehaha & Turner.

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

  • McCook County     (The home county of Spencer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Salem
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Salem is located in McCook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
    • Unityville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Unityville is located in McCook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unityville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 52 people
    • Salem
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Bridgewater
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Canistota
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Montrose
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Davison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Mitchell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Ethan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • River Bluff Addition
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • River Bluff Addition is located in Davison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bluff Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 13 people
    • Loomis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Hanson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Farmer
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Farmer is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
    • Emery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Epiphany
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Epiphany is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epiphany
      • Estimated population in 2014: 103 people
    • Alexandria
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fulton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Rockport Colony
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Rockport Colony is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 32 people
    • Plano
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Plano is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
      • Estimated population in 2014: 104 people
    • Farwell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Farwell is located in Hanson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
  • Hutchinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • New Elm Springs Colony
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
    • Milltown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Milltown is located in Hutchinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
      • Estimated population in 2014: 115 people
    • Tschetter Colony
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Tschetter Colony is located in Hutchinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tschetter Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 80 people
    • Wolf Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Wolf Creek is located in Hutchinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek
      • Estimated population in 2014: 195 people
    • Dimock
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Freeman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Parkston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Winfred
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Junius
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Junius is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junius
    • Franklin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Franklin is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Estimated population in 2014: 333 people
    • Prairie Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Prairie Village is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
      • Estimated population in 2014: 18 people
    • Madison
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Miner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Canova
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Howard
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Roswell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • 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 north)
      • Vilas is located in Miner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
    • Fedora
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Minnehaha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Humboldt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Pumpkin Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Pumpkin Center is located in Minnehaha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
      • Estimated population in 2014: 13 people
  • Sanborn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Artesian
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Letcher
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Turner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spencer, with the one closest to Spencer listed first.
    • Dolton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Dolton is located in Turner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
    • Monroe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Marion
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Spencer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spencer.

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

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

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

  • Spencer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • St. Peter Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • St. Martins Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Martins Catholic Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Martins Catholic Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Emery.
    • The St. Martins Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Martins Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #97586 <2>
  • Unityville Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Green Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Wildwood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Olsen Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (87 more) ...
    • St. Pauls Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Graceland Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • St. Marys 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Spencer had a population of 325 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Spencer had a population of 145 people.

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

  • Farmer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Farmer is located in Hanson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
  • Emery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Alexandria
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Salem
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Canova
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Fulton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Bridgewater
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Canistota
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Farwell
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Farwell is located in Hanson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
  • Vilas
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Vilas is located in Miner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 19 people
  • Roswell
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Roswell is located in Miner County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
    • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
  • Howard
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Montrose
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Winfred
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mitchell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Spencer ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spencer.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Spencer. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Spencer and those printed in the larger area surrounding Spencer.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Spencer.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Spencer:

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>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 Spencer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Spencer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.