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 Monona (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 Monona. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Monona is located in Dane 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 Dane County: Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock & Sauk.
Below are the counties that are near Monona. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Monona:
- Dane County (The home county of Monona)
- The following are listed by their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- McFarland
(3 miles [4.8 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
- Madison
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Madison is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263,094 people
- Hope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Hope is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Maple Bluff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
- Syene ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Syene is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syene
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Darwin is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
- Pilgrim Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Pilgrim Village is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Village
- Shorewood Hills
(5 miles [8 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
- Door Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Door Creek is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
- Burke
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Burke is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
- Mendota
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mendota is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendota
- Fitchburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fitchburg is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 30,866 people
- Cottage Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Keyeser
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Keyeser is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyeser
- Arlington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Arlington is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 818 people
- North Leeds
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- North Leeds is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leeds
- Lodi
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lodi is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Poynette
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Poynette is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poynette
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,508 people
- Harmony Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Okee
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Okee is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okee
- Otsego
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Otsego is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsego
- Columbus
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Columbus is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,117 people
- Lake Wisconsin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Wisconsin is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wisconsin
- Doylestown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Doylestown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doylestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Rio
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Rio is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,047 people
- Fall River
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fall River is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,757 people
- Dodge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Astico
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Astico is located in Dodge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astico
- Reeseville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Reeseville is located in Dodge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeseville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 673 people
- Green County
- The following are listed by their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Dayton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Dayton is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Attica
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Attica is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
- New Glarus
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- New Glarus is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glarus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,136 people
- Albany
(24 miles [38.6 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
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Mineral Point is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
- Monticello
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Monticello is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,185 people
- Brodhead
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Brodhead is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brodhead
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Barneveld
(28 miles [45.1 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
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Cassell is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassell
- Moscow
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Moscow is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Arena
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Arena is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Lake Ripley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Lake Ripley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ripley
- Waterloo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Waterloo is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people
- Lake Mills
(21 miles [33.8 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
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Carcajou is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carcajou
- Lake Koshkonong
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Koshkonong is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Koshkonong
- Milford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Milford is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
- Fort Atkinson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Atkinson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,372 people
- Jefferson
(26 miles [41.8 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
- Grellton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Grellton is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grellton
- Johnson Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Johnson Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,065 people
- Cold Spring
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Cold Spring is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
- Rock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Cooksville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Cooksville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Union
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Union is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Evansville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Evansville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,556 people
- Edgerton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Edgerton is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,595 people
- Fulton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fulton is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Indianford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Indianford is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianford
- Magnolia
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Magnolia is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Milton Junction
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Milton Junction is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Junction
- Footville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Footville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Footville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
- Milton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Milton is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,643 people
- Hanover
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Hanover is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
- Orfordville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Orfordville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orfordville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,486 people
- Janesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Janesville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 64,664 people
- Sauk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Sauk City
(24 miles [38.6 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
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- 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
- Merrimac
(26 miles [41.8 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
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Moon Valley is located in Sauk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Valley
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Monona, see our County-by-County Page for Monona.
Cemeteries Near Monona ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Monona.
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 Monona - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Monona covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Roselawn Memorial Park
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Blooming Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- McFarland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Hill Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Madison.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #87944 <1>
- Resurrection Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Resurrection Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Resurrection Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Madison.
- The Resurrection Cemetery has also been known as:
- Calvary Cemetery
- Holy Cross Cemetery
- Resurrection Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #343777 <1>
- Cottage Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Holy Mother of Consolation Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Prairie Mound Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Hoepker Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- St. Bernards Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Sunset Memory Gardens
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (195 more) ...
- Oak Hall Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- West Koshkonong Lutheran Church Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Liberty Prairie Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
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>
While we didn't find Monona in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Monona.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Monona, with the one closest to Monona listed first.
- Madison
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Madison is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263,094 people
- Syene ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Syene is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syene
- Hope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Hope is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Darwin ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Darwin is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
- Lakeview
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Lakeview is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Vilas
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Vilas is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilas
- Fitchburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fitchburg is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 30,866 people
- Door Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Door Creek is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Door Creek
- Mendota
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mendota is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendota
- Burke
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Burke is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
- Cottage Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
- Pheasant Branch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Pheasant Branch is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Branch
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Oregon
(9 miles [14.5 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
- Nora
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Nora is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora
- Middleton
(9 miles [14.5 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
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Monona. See our List of 1890's Communities around Monona.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Monona ...
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 247 newspapers that have been published in the area around Monona.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Monona. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Monona and those printed in the larger area surrounding Monona.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3> of Monona.
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 Monona:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Pages specific to Dane County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Dodge County
- Green County
- Iowa County
- Jefferson County
- Rock County
- Sauk 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> | 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 Monona, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Monona) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |