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 Stearns (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 Stearns. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.
Stearns is located in Green 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 Green County: Stephenson (IL), Winnebago (IL), Dane, Iowa, Lafayette & Rock.
Below are the counties that are near Stearns. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Stearns:
- Green County (The home county of Stearns)
- The following are listed by their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Monroe
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Monroe is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,426 people
- Monticello
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Monticello is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,185 people
- Mineral Point
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Mineral Point is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Point
- Albany
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Albany is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
- Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
- Twin Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Twin Grove is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Grove
- Attica
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Attica is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
- Browntown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Browntown is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browntown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
- New Glarus
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- New Glarus is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glarus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,136 people
- Cadiz
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cadiz is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadiz
- Brodhead
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Brodhead is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brodhead
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
- Dayton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Dayton is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Dane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Belleville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Belleville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,514 people
- Brooklyn
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Brooklyn is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,484 people
- Basco
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Basco is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basco
- Paoli
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Paoli is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paoli
- Oregon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Oregon is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,731 people
- Stone
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Stone is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone
- Oak Hall
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Oak Hall is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hall
- Verona
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Verona is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,539 people
- Fitchburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Fitchburg is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 30,866 people
- Klevenville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Klevenville is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klevenville
- Mount Horeb
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Mount Horeb is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Horeb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,563 people
- Dunkirk
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dunkirk is located in Dane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunkirk
- Iowa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Moscow
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Moscow is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Hollandale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hollandale is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollandale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Barneveld
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Barneveld is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barneveld
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,252 people
- Ridgeway
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ridgeway is located in Iowa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
- Lafayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Woodford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Woodford is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
- Argyle
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Argyle is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
- South Wayne
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- South Wayne is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wayne
- Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
- Blanchardville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Blanchardville is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchardville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 788 people
- Wiota
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Wiota is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiota
- Gratiot
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Gratiot is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gratiot
- Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
- Darlington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Darlington is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,317 people
- Calamine
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Calamine is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calamine
- Rock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Avon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Avon is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Magnolia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Magnolia is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Orfordville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Orfordville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orfordville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,486 people
- Evansville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Evansville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,556 people
- Union
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Union is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Footville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Footville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Footville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
- Newark
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Newark is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark
- Hanover
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Hanover is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover
- Cooksville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cooksville is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Fulton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fulton is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
- Indianford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Indianford is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianford
- Edgerton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Edgerton is located in Rock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,595 people
- Jo Daviess County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Nora
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Nora is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nora
- Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nora <1>
- Warren
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Warren is located in Jo Daviess County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,300 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warren <1>
- Apple River
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Stockton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Stephenson County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Oneco
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Oneco is located in Stephenson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneco
- Orangeville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Rock Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Rock Grove is located in Stephenson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Grove
- Winslow
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Afolkey
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Afolkey is located in Stephenson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afolkey
- Buena Vista
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Buena Vista is located in Stephenson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- McConnell
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Dakota
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Red Oak
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Red Oak is located in Stephenson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
- Davis
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Davis is located in Stephenson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 616 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Davis <1>
- Rock City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Rock City is located in Stephenson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 279 people
- Cedarville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Winnebago County (IL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Lake Summerset
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Summerset is located in Winnebago County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Summerset
- Durand
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Durand is located in Winnebago County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durand
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,387 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durand <1>
- Shirland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pecatonica
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Wempletown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wempletown is located in Winnebago County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wempletown
- Rockton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Stearns, see our County-by-County Page for Stearns.
Cemeteries Near Stearns ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Stearns.
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 Stearns - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Stearns covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Dutch Hollow Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Benkert Bushnell Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Lliff Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Cemetery
- The Greenwood Cemetery has also been known as:
- Monroe Cemetery
- Monroe City Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #88062 <2>
- St. Victor Calvary Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Benkert Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St. Victor Old Calvary Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Highland Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Bethel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Vernon Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Franklin Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Moores Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (230 more) ...
- Hillcrest Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Shooks Prairie Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Michael Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
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>
While we didn't find Stearns in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Stearns.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Stearns, with the one closest to Stearns listed first.
- Schultz
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Schultz is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schultz
- Juda
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Juda is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juda
- Monticello
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Monticello is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,185 people
- Clarno
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Clarno is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarno
- Twin Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Twin Grove is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Grove
- Albany
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Albany is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
- Population from the 2020 Census: 977 people
- Browntown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Browntown is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browntown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
- Attica
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Attica is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
- Oakley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Oakley is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakley
- New Glarus
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- New Glarus is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glarus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,136 people
- Oneco
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Oneco is located in Stephenson County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneco
- Brodhead
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Brodhead is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brodhead
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Dayton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Dayton is located in Green County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Woodford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Woodford is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
- Orangeville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Stearns. See our List of 1890's Communities around Stearns.
Newspapers Published in Stearns ...
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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Stearns.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Stearns, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Stearns.
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 Stearns:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Pages specific to Green County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Dane County
- Iowa County
- Lafayette County
- Rock County
- Jo Daviess County
- Stephenson County
- Winnebago County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <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 Stearns, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Stearns) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |