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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 Deerfield (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 Deerfield. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Deerfield is located in Dane County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Dane County: Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock & Sauk.

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

  • Dane County     (The home county of Deerfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deerfield, with the one closest to Deerfield listed first.
    • Cambridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
      • Cambridge is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,538 people
    • Rockdale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
      • Rockdale is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
    • Pierceville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cottage Grove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Door Creek
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Door Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
      • Door Creek is located in Dane County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Door Creek
      • From Deerfield to Door Creek
    • Marshall
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Burke
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Burke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
      • Burke is located in Dane County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Burke
      • From Deerfield to Burke
    • Albion
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Stoughton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stoughton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoughton
      • Stoughton is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,218 people
    • McFarland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McFarland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
      • McFarland is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,291 people
    • Sun Prairie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
      • Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
    • Hanerville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hanerville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanerville
      • Hanerville is located in Dane County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hanerville
      • From Deerfield to Hanerville
    • Monona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monona have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monona
      • Monona is located in Dane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,164 people
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deerfield, with the one closest to Deerfield listed first.
    • Keyeser
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keyeser. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyeser
      • Keyeser is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Keyeser
      • From Deerfield to Keyeser
    • Columbus
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Fall River
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • North Leeds
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Otsego
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Arlington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Doylestown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Englewood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Rio
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rio have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
      • Rio is located in Columbia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,047 people
    • Poynette
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lodi
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deerfield, with the one closest to Deerfield listed first.
    • Astico
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Reeseville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lowell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lowell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
      • Lowell is located in Dodge County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
    • Clyman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyman
      • Clyman is located in Dodge County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
    • Ashippun
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Beaver Dam
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Dam have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Dam
      • Beaver Dam is located in Dodge County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,303 people
    • Juneau
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Green County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deerfield, with the one closest to Deerfield listed first.
    • Dayton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Attica
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Albany
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albany have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
      • Albany is located in Green County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
    • Mineral Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
      • Mineral Point is located in Green County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deerfield, with the one closest to Deerfield listed first.
    • Lake Ripley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
      • Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
    • Waterloo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterloo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
      • Waterloo is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people
    • Milford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Carcajou
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Koshkonong
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Koshkonong have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Koshkonong
      • Lake Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
    • Jefferson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jefferson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,037 people
    • Fort Atkinson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Atkinson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
      • Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
    • Grellton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Johnson Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Cold Spring
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Helenville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Farmington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Farmington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmington
      • Farmington is located in Jefferson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farmington
      • From Deerfield to Farmington
  • Rock County
  • Walworth County
  • Waukesha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Deerfield, with the one closest to Deerfield listed first.
    • Oconomowoc
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oconomowoc have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconomowoc
      • Oconomowoc is located in Waukesha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,160 people
    • Summit
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Dousman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dousman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dousman
      • Dousman is located in Waukesha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,317 people
    • Monterey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Summit Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Deerfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Deerfield.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Deerfield, with the one closest to Deerfield 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Deerfield had a population of 338 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Deerfield had a population of 2,540 people.

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

  • London
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for London have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
    • London is located in Dane County
  • Nora
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora
    • Nora is located in Dane County
  • Cambridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
    • Cambridge is located in Dane County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,538 people
  • Rockdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
    • Rockdale is located in Dane County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
  • Door Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Door Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
    • Door Creek is located in Dane County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Door Creek
    • From Deerfield to Door Creek
  • Utica
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Utica have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
    • Utica is located in Dane County
  • Pierceville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cottage Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Lake Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
    • Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
  • Marshall
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Vilas
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vilas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
    • Vilas is located in Dane County
  • Hope
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
    • Hope is located in Dane County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Deansville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deansville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deansville
      • Deansville is located in Dane County
    • Aztalan
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aztalan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aztalan
      • Aztalan is located in Jefferson County
    • Waterloo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterloo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
      • Waterloo is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Deerfield ...

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 203 newspapers that have been published in the area around Deerfield.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Deerfield. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Deerfield and those printed in the larger area surrounding Deerfield.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<5> of Deerfield.

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 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 Deerfield:

The official website for Deerfield: www.deerfieldwi.com/

The official website for Dane County: www.co.dane.wi.us/

The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.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>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.
<3>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.
<4>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 Deerfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Deerfield) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Deerfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0520, Longitude: -89.0761    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025