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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 Virgil (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 Virgil. 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 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.

Virgil is located in Beadle 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 Beadle County: Clark, Hand, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Miner, Sanborn & Spink.

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

  • Beadle County     (The home county of Virgil)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Virgil, with the one closest to Virgil listed first.
    • Wolsey
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolsey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolsey
      • Wolsey is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolsey <2>
    • Huron
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
      • Huron is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huron <2>
    • Morningside
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morningside
      • Morningside is located in Beadle County
    • Broadland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadland
      • Broadland is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
    • Wessington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wessington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wessington
      • Wessington is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wessington <2>
    • Cavour
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cavour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavour
      • Cavour is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cavour <2>
    • Bonilla
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonilla
      • Bonilla is located in Beadle County
    • Huron Colony
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Colony
      • Huron Colony is located in Beadle County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 403 people
    • Hitchcock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hitchcock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitchcock
      • Hitchcock is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hitchcock <2>
    • Yale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Aurora County
    • Storla
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Storla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Storla
      • Storla is located in Aurora County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 6 people
  • Hand County
    • Saint Lawrence
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Lawrence
      • Saint Lawrence is located in Hand County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Lawrence <2>
  • Jerauld County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Virgil, with the one closest to Virgil listed first.
    • Alpena
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
      • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
    • Lane
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
      • Lane is located in Jerauld County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <2>
    • Wessington Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Crow Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crow Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Lake
      • Crow Lake is located in Jerauld County
  • Kingsbury County
    • Iroquois
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iroquois have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iroquois
      • Iroquois is located in Kingsbury County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iroquois <2>
  • Sanborn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Virgil, with the one closest to Virgil listed first.
    • Woonsocket
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Cuthbert
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuthbert
      • Cuthbert is located in Sanborn County
    • Forestburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestburg
      • Forestburg is located in Sanborn County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 73 people
    • Letcher
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letcher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
      • Letcher is located in Sanborn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Letcher <2>
  • Spink County
    • Spottswood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spottswood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
      • Spottswood is located in Spink County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Virgil ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Virgil.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Virgil. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Virgil and those printed in the larger area surrounding Virgil.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Virgil.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Virgil:

Cemeteries Near Virgil ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Virgil.

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

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

  • Zion Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
  • Wolsey Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
  • Rest Haven Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rest Haven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rest Haven Cemetery
  • Earlville Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Earlville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Earlville Cemetery
  • Restlawn Memory Garden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Restlawn Memory Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Restlawn Memory Garden
  • Aquilla Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Aquilla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Aquilla Cemetery
  • Ideal Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ideal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ideal Cemetery
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
  • St. Martin Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Martin Cemetery
  • McNair Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McNair Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McNair Cemetery
  • Continue List   (40 more) ...
    • Chery Twp. Pioneer Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Chery Twp. Pioneer Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • The Chery Twp. Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Lillihaug Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chery Twp. Pioneer Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2408942 <4>
    • McCord Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Broadland Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Broadland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Broadland Cemetery

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Virgil had a population of 48 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Virgil had a population of 18 people.

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

  • Alpena
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpena
    • Alpena is located in Jerauld County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alpena <2>
  • Wolsey
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolsey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolsey
    • Wolsey is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolsey <2>
  • James Valley Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for James Valley Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Valley Junction
    • James Valley Junction is located in Beadle County
  • Huron
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
    • Huron is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,420 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huron <2>
  • Broadland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadland
    • Broadland is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
  • Wessington Springs
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Wessington
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wessington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wessington
    • Wessington is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wessington <2>
  • Woonsocket
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Cavour
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cavour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavour
    • Cavour is located in Beadle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cavour <2>
  • Sheffield
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheffield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield
    • Sheffield is located in Beadle County
  • Bonilla
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonilla
    • Bonilla is located in Beadle County
  • Yale
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Hitchcock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hitchcock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hitchcock
      • Hitchcock is located in Beadle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hitchcock <2>
    • Forestburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestburg
      • Forestburg is located in Sanborn County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 73 people
    • Spottswood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spottswood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
      • Spottswood is located in Spink County

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

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

The official website for Beadle County: www.beadlecounty.org/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Virgil) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Virgil. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2903, Longitude: -98.4270       In this case, the coordinates for Virgil have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>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 Virgil, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024