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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 Wetonka (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 Wetonka. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Wetonka is located in McPherson 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 McPherson County: Dickey (ND), McIntosh (ND), Brown, Campbell & Edmunds.

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

  • McPherson County     (The home county of Wetonka)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wetonka, with the one closest to Wetonka listed first.
    • Long Lake Colony
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Long Lake Colony is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake Colony
      • Estimated population in 2014: 332 people
    • Leola
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Leola is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 420 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leola <1>
    • Spring Creek Colony
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Spring Creek Colony is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek Colony
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 268 people
    • Long Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Long Lake is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wetonka, with the one closest to Wetonka listed first.
    • Pleasant Vally Development
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Westport
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Gederos Estates
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Gederos Estates is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gederos Estates
      • Estimated population in 2014: 212 people
    • Barnard
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Ordway
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Ordway is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordway
      • Estimated population in 2014: 306 people
    • Aberdeen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Melrose Addition
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Melrose Addition is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 221 people
    • Prairie Wood Village Addition
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Prairie Wood Village Addition is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Wood Village Addition
      • Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
    • Frederick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jobee Acres
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jobee Acres is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jobee Acres
      • Estimated population in 2014: 15 people
    • Columbia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Winship
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Winship is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winship
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,862 people
    • Bath Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Bath Corner is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath Corner
  • Edmunds County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wetonka, with the one closest to Wetonka listed first.
    • Mina
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Mina is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mina
      • Mina has also been known as:
      • Cortland
      • Cortlandt
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mina <1>
    • Craven Corner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Craven Corner is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven Corner
    • Craven
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Craven is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craven
    • Ipswich
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Beebe
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Beebe is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe
    • Powell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Powell is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
    • Roscoe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Spink County
    • Duxbury
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Duxbury is located in Spink County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
      • Estimated population in 2014: 531 people
  • Dickey County (ND)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wetonka, with the one closest to Wetonka listed first.
    • Forbes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Forbes is located in Dickey County (ND)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forbes <1>
    • Ellendale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Wetonka ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wetonka.

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

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

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

  • Wetonka Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Pembrook Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Bretheren Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Green Mound Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • New Straasburg Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Strassburg Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Hyacinth Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Westport Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Ipswitch Southside Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ipswitch Southside Cemetery
    • The Ipswitch Southside Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Southside Cemetery
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (39 more) ...
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Richland Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Sacred Heart Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)

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>

While we didn't find Wetonka in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wetonka.

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

  • Leola
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Leola is located in McPherson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leola
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 420 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leola <1>
  • Mina
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Mina is located in Edmunds County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mina
    • Mina has also been known as:
    • Cortland
    • Cortlandt
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mina <1>
  • Westport
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Ipswich
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Aberdeen
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Ordway
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Ordway is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordway
    • Estimated population in 2014: 306 people
  • Frederick
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Rudolph
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rudolph is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudolph
  • Columbia
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Plana
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Plana is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plana
  • Winship
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Winship is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winship
    • Estimated population in 2014: 2,862 people
  • Warner
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Bath
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Powell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Powell is located in Edmunds County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
    • Long Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Long Lake is located in McPherson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people

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

Newspapers Published in Wetonka ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wetonka.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wetonka, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wetonka.

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 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 Wetonka:

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 Wetonka, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wetonka) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.