RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Columbia County >> Columbus >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Columbus (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 Columbus. 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 Columbus ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Columbus was referred to as Columbus Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Columbus. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Columbus.

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 southeast 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 south.

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 south 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.

Columbus is primarily located in Columbia County. A portion of Columbus extends into Dodge 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 Columbia County: Adams, Dane, Dodge, Green Lake, Juneau, Marquette & Sauk.

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

  • Columbia County     (The home county of Columbus)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Fall River
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Englewood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Otsego
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Doylestown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Keyeser
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Rio
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Rio is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,047 people
    • Cambria
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • North Leeds
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Friesland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Friesland is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friesland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
    • Wyocena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Arlington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Pardeeville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Pardeeville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardeeville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,053 people
    • Poynette
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Dane County
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Astico
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Reeseville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lowell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Lowell is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
    • Beaver Dam
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Randolph
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Randolph is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,738 people
    • Clyman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Clyman is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
    • Juneau
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Fox Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Fox Lake is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,440 people
    • Minnesota Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Burnett
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Horicon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Horicon is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horicon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,680 people
    • Hustisford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Hustisford is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustisford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,060 people
    • Atwater
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Fond du Lac County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Fairwater
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Brandon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Green Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Kingston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Markesan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Markesan is located in Green Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markesan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,389 people
    • Utley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Marquette
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Marquette is located in Green Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marquette
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Waterloo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Watertown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Grellton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Milford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Mills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
    • Johnson Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Ripley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Farmington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ixonia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Ixonia is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ixonia
    • Jefferson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,037 people
    • Concord
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Concord is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
    • Helenville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lac La Belle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Lac La Belle is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lac La Belle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 302 people
  • Sauk County
    • Merrimac
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Merrimac is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Monterey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Oconomowoc
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Oconomowoc is located in Waukesha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconomowoc
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,160 people

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

Cemeteries Near Columbus ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Columbus.

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

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

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

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 Columbus had a population of 2,367 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Columbus had a population of 5,117 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Columbus ...

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 163 newspapers that have been published in the area around Columbus.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Columbus. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Columbus and those printed in the larger area surrounding Columbus.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2> of Columbus.

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 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 Columbus:

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Columbus) 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 Columbus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.