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 Big Spring (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 Big Spring. 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.
Name Variations for Big Spring ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Big Spring: Big Spg. (or less commonly used: Big Spng. or Big Sprng.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Big Spring. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Big Spring.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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.
Big Spring 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 Big Spring. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Big Spring:
- Adams County (The home county of Big Spring)
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Plainville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Plainville is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
- Easton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Easton is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
- Pilot Knob ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Pilot Knob is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Knob
- Adams
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Adams is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,905 people
- Quincy ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Quincy is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
- Friendship
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Friendship is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Population from the 2020 Census: 676 people
- Arkdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Arkdale is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkdale
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Wisconsin Dells
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wisconsin Dells is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisconsin Dells
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,061 people
- Portage
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Portage is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,381 people
- Durwards Glen ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Durwards Glen is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durwards Glen
- Pardeeville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Pardeeville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardeeville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,053 people
- Lake Wisconsin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Lake Wisconsin is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wisconsin
- Wyocena
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Wyocena is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyocena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 727 people
- Former names for Wyocena:
- Duck Creek
- Wiocena
- Harmony Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Okee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Okee is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okee
- Poynette
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Poynette is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poynette
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,508 people
- Lodi
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Lodi is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Rio
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Rio is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,047 people
- Arlington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Arlington is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 818 people
- Cambria
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Cambria is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 748 people
- Dane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Dane
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Dane is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,134 people
- Morrisonville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Morrisonville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisonville
- Green Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Kingston
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Kingston is located in Green Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
- Marquette
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Marquette is located in Green Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marquette
- Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
- Princeton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Princeton is located in Green Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,166 people
- Juneau County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Lyndon Station
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Lyndon Station is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndon Station
- Population from the 2020 Census: 485 people
- Lemonweir
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lemonweir is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemonweir
- Mauston
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Mauston is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mauston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,358 people
- New Lisbon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- New Lisbon is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lisbon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,547 people
- Wonewoc
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Wonewoc is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonewoc
- Population from the 2020 Census: 789 people
- Marquette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Douglas Center
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Douglas Center is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas Center
- Oxford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Oxford is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 604 people
- Endeavor
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Endeavor is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Endeavor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 464 people
- Packwaukee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Packwaukee is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packwaukee
- Glen Oak
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Glen Oak is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Oak
- Westfield
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Westfield is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,268 people
- Montello
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Montello is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montello
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,454 people
- Germania
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Germania is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germania
- Neshkoro
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Neshkoro is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neshkoro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
- Richland County
- Cazenovia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Cazenovia is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cazenovia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
- Sauk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Lake Delton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Delton is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Delton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,986 people
- Baraboo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Baraboo is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baraboo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,121 people
- West Baraboo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- West Baraboo is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Baraboo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,416 people
- North Freedom
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- North Freedom is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Freedom
- Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
- Rock Springs
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Springs is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
- Merrimac
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Merrimac is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
- Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
- Moon Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Moon Valley is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Valley
- Reedsburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Reedsburg is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,500 people
- Denzer
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Denzer is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denzer
- Loganville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Loganville is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 297 people
- La Valle
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- La Valle is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Valle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 360 people
- Prairie du Sac village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Prairie du Sac village is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Sac village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,426 people
- Ironton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Ironton is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
- Waushara County
- Coloma
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Coloma is located in Waushara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Big Spring, see our County-by-County Page for Big Spring.
Cemeteries Near Big Spring ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Spring.
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 Big Spring - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Big Spring covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Briggsville Protestant Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Newport Lutheran Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport Lutheran Church Cemetery
- The Newport Lutheran Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Newport Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Newport Norwegian Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2130958 <1>
- Cummings Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Calvary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hillcrest Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- St. Paul Norwegian Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Oxford Village Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Village Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Oxford Village Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Oxford.
- The Oxford Village Cemetery has also been known as:
- Oxford Cemetery
- Village Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1967858 <1>
- Continue List (218 more) ...
- Indian Baptist Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Delton Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Delton Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Lake Delton Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the south of Lake Delton.
- The Lake Delton Cemetery has also been known as:
- Wisconsin Dells Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1787579 <1>
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 in 1895, Big Spring had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Big Spring, with the one closest to Big Spring listed first.
- Briggsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Briggsville is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggsville
- Dell Prairie ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Dell Prairie is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dell Prairie
- Douglas Center
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Douglas Center is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas Center
- Oxford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Oxford is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 604 people
- Plainville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Plainville is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
- Packwaukee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Packwaukee is located in Marquette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packwaukee
- Portage
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Portage is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,381 people
- Lyndon Station
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Lyndon Station is located in Juneau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndon Station
- Population from the 2020 Census: 485 people
- New Chester ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- New Chester is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chester
- Baraboo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Baraboo is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baraboo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,121 people
- Easton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Easton is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
- Grand Marsh
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Grand Marsh is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Marsh
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- White Creek
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- White Creek is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Creek
- Dekorra
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Dekorra is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dekorra
- North Freedom
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- North Freedom is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Freedom
- Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Big Spring. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Spring.
Newspapers Published in Big Spring ...
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 121 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Spring.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Spring, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Spring.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Big Spring:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Pages specific to Adams County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Dane County
- Green Lake County
- Juneau County
- Marquette County
- Richland County
- Sauk County
- Waushara County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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 from Point A (ie- Big Spring) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Big Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |