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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 Adams (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 Adams. 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.

Adams is located in Adams County.

To see how the shape of Wisconsin's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Adams County: Columbia, Juneau, Marquette, Portage, Sauk, Waushara & Wood.

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

  • Adams County     (The home county of Adams)
  • Columbia County
  • Juneau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Adams, with the one closest to Adams listed first.
    • Necedah
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Lemonweir
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lyndon Station
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Lyndon Station is located in Juneau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndon Station
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 485 people
    • Mauston
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Mauston is located in Juneau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mauston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,358 people
    • New Miner
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • New Lisbon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Sprague
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Camp Douglas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Hustler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Mather
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Elroy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Elroy is located in Juneau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elroy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,306 people
    • Union Center
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Marquette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Adams, with the one closest to Adams listed first.
    • Westfield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Westfield is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,268 people
    • Oxford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Douglas Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Packwaukee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Endeavor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Endeavor is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Endeavor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 464 people
    • Glen Oak
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Montello
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Germania
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Neshkoro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Neshkoro is located in Marquette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neshkoro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Adams, with the one closest to Adams listed first.
    • Shennington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Clifton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Oakdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Wyeville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Wyeville is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyeville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
    • Kendall
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Kendall is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
    • Valley Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Portage County
    • Almond
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sauk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Adams, with the one closest to Adams listed first.
    • Lake Delton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Reedsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Reedsburg is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,500 people
    • La Valle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Waushara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Adams, with the one closest to Adams listed first.
    • Coloma
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Coloma is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Hancock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Hancock is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
    • Plainfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Plainfield is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
    • Wautoma
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Wautoma is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wautoma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,114 people
    • Silver Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Silver Lake is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
  • Wood County

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

Cemeteries Near Adams ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Adams.

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

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

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

  • Mt. Repose Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • St. Leos Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • East Arkdale Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cottonville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • West Arkdale Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • South Arkdale Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Dellwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Gould Rock Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Indian Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Quincy Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Easton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (157 more) ...
    • Edwardson Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Michaels Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • South Burr Oak Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)

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.<1>

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

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

  • Friendship
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Friendship is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 676 people
  • Adams Center ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Adams Center is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Center
  • Arkdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Roche a Cri ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Roche a Cri is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roche a Cri
  • Grand Marsh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Grand Marsh is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Marsh
  • Quincy ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Easton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • White Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • White Creek is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Creek
  • Pilot Knob ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Pilot Knob is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Knob
  • Strongs Prairie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • New Chester ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • New Chester is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chester
  • Monroe Center
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Monroe Center is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe Center
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Lemonweir
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Coloma
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Coloma is located in Waushara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Mauston
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Mauston is located in Juneau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mauston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,358 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Adams ...

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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Adams.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Adams. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Adams and those printed in the larger area surrounding Adams.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> of Adams.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Adams:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Adams, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Adams) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.