RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Dane County >> Madison >> 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 Madison (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 Madison. 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 Madison ...

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, Madison was referred to as Madison Courthouse.

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

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Madison is located in Dane 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 Dane County: Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock & Sauk.

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

  • Dane County     (The home county of Madison)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Maple Bluff
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
    • Pilgrim Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Pilgrim Village is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Village
    • Shorewood Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Shorewood Hills is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorewood Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,999 people
    • Monona
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Monona is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,164 people
    • Mendota
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Darwin ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Pheasant Branch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
    • Syene ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fitchburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Middleton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Middleton is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,195 people
    • McFarland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • McFarland is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,291 people
    • Ashton Corners
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Columbia County
  • Dodge County
  • Green County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Dayton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Attica
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • New Glarus
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Monticello
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Albany
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Albany is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
    • Mineral Point
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Mineral Point is located in Green County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
  • Iowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Barneveld
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Barneveld is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barneveld
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,252 people
    • Cassell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Arena
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Moscow
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Hyde
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Hollandale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Ridgeway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Ridgeway is located in Iowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Lake Ripley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Waterloo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Lake Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
    • Carcajou
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Koshkonong
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Koshkonong
    • Milford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Fort Atkinson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Jefferson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,037 people
  • Lafayette County
  • Rock County
  • Sauk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Sauk City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sauk City is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sauk City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,498 people
    • Prairie du Sac village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Merrimac
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Merrimac is located in Sauk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
    • Moon Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Witwen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Denzer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Madison ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Madison.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison 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 Madison had a population of 13,426 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Madison had a population of 263,094 people.

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

  • Syene ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Darwin ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Mendota
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Pheasant Branch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
  • Fitchburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Middleton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Middleton is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,195 people
  • Lakeview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Lakeview is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Hope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Hope is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
  • Burke
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Verona
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Verona is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,539 people
  • Waunakee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Waunakee is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waunakee
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,188 people
  • Vilas
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Vilas is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Ashton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • West Middleton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • West Middleton is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Middleton
    • Oregon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Oregon is located in Dane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,731 people

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Madison ...

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 257 newspapers that have been published in the area around Madison.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Madison. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Madison and those printed in the larger area surrounding Madison.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<3> of Madison.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Madison:

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 Madison, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Madison) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.