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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 Keshena (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 Keshena. 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 Keshena ...

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.

Another variation: Keshena.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Keshena is located in Menominee County and is the County Seat.

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 Menominee County: Langlade, Oconto & Shawano.

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

  • Menominee County     (The home county of Keshena)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Keshena, with the one closest to Keshena listed first.
    • Legend Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Legend Lake is located in Menominee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Legend Lake
    • Neopit
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Neopit is located in Menominee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neopit
    • Zoar
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Keshena, with the one closest to Keshena listed first.
    • Pulaski
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Pittsfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Pittsfield is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsfield
    • Flintville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Langlade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Keshena, with the one closest to Keshena listed first.
    • White Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • White Lake is located in Langlade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
    • Langlade
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Phlox
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Bryant
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Marathon County
    • Norrie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Norrie is located in Marathon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norrie
  • Oconto County
  • Outagamie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Keshena, with the one closest to Keshena listed first.
    • Leeman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Nichols
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Nichols is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichols
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
    • Bear Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Bear Creek is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 439 people
    • Seymour
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Seymour is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,457 people
    • Black Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Black Creek is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,309 people
    • Shiocton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Shiocton is located in Outagamie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiocton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 914 people
  • Shawano County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Keshena, with the one closest to Keshena listed first.
    • Middle Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Middle Village is located in Shawano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Village
    • Shawano
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Gresham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cecil
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Cecil is located in Shawano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
    • Belle Plaine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Lunds
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Pella
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pulcifer
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Bonduel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Leopolis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Slab City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Slab City is located in Shawano County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
    • Zachow
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Almon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Waupaca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Keshena, with the one closest to Keshena listed first.
    • Embarrass
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Embarrass is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embarrass
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
    • Clintonville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Clintonville is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,353 people
    • Marion
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Granite City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Granite City is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite City
    • Big Falls
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Big Falls is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Falls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people

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

Cemeteries Near Keshena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Keshena.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Keshena, with the one closest to Keshena 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Keshena had a population of 72 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Gresham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Shawano
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Cecil
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Cecil is located in Shawano County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
  • Belle Plaine
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Pella
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Leopolis
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Bonduel
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Pulcifer
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Hayes
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hayes is located in Oconto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayes
  • Embarrass
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Embarrass is located in Waupaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embarrass
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
  • Gillett
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Gillett is located in Oconto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillett
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,306 people
  • Caroline
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Caroline is located in Shawano County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroline
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Breed
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Buckbee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Buckbee is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckbee
    • Clintonville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Clintonville is located in Waupaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,353 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Keshena ...

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 60 newspapers that have been published in the area around Keshena.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Keshena. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Keshena and those printed in the larger area surrounding Keshena.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Keshena.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Keshena:

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>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 Keshena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Keshena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.