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 Thornton (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 Thornton. 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.
Thornton is located in Shawano 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 Shawano County: Brown, Langlade, Marathon, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Portage & Waupaca.
Below are the counties that are near Thornton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Thornton:
- Shawano County (The home county of Thornton)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Shawano
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawano
- Shawano is located in Shawano County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,885 people
- Gresham
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresham
- Gresham is located in Shawano County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 563 people
- Leopolis
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leopolis
- Leopolis is located in Shawano County
- Middle Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middle Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Village
- Middle Village is located in Shawano County
- Lunds
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunds
- Lunds is located in Shawano County
- Cecil
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Bonduel
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonduel
- Bonduel is located in Shawano County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,411 people
- Slab City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Bowler
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west) - Pulcifer
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulcifer
- Pulcifer is located in Shawano County
- Zachow
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zachow
- Zachow is located in Shawano County
- Almon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almon
- Almon is located in Shawano County
- Regina
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Brown County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Pulaski
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulaski
- Pulaski is located in Brown County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,766 people
- Pittsfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pittsfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsfield
- Pittsfield is located in Brown County
- Flintville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flintville
- Flintville is located in Brown County
- Langlade County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Phlox
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phlox
- Phlox is located in Langlade County
- White Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
- White Lake is located in Langlade County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 353 people
- Marathon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Elderon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west) - Galloway
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galloway
- Galloway is located in Marathon County
- Norrie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Menominee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Keshena
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keshena
- Keshena is located in Menominee County
- Legend Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Legend Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Legend Lake
- Legend Lake is located in Menominee County
- Neopit
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Zoar
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zoar
- Zoar is located in Menominee County
- Oconto County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Gillett
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east) - Suring
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suring
- Suring is located in Oconto County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 524 people
- Frostville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frostville
- Frostville is located in Oconto County
- Breed
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast) - Hickory Corners
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Corners
- Hickory Corners is located in Oconto County
- Oconto Falls
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconto Falls
- Oconto Falls is located in Oconto County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,805 people
- Armstrong
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast) - Spruce
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce
- Spruce is located in Oconto County
- Mountain
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain
- Mountain is located in Oconto County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
- Outagamie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Leeman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast) - Bear Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
- Bear Creek is located in Outagamie County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 439 people
- Nichols
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast) - Shiocton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south) - Black Creek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
- Black Creek is located in Outagamie County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,309 people
- Seymour
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Waupaca County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Embarrass
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Clintonville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clintonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Clintonville is located in Waupaca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,353 people
- Marion
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
- Marion is located in Waupaca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,167 people
- Granite City ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite City
- Granite City is located in Waupaca County
- Big Falls
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest) - Manawa
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest) - Little Wolf ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Wolf have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Wolf
- Little Wolf is located in Waupaca County
- New London
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New London have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
- New London is located in Waupaca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,065 people
- Ostrander
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ostrander
- Ostrander is located in Waupaca County
- Iola
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest) - Ogdensburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ogdensburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogdensburg
- Ogdensburg is located in Waupaca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Thornton, see our County-by-County Page for Thornton.
Newspapers Published in Thornton ...
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 78 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thornton.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thornton, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thornton.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Thornton:
- Websites specific to Wisconsin
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the //www.wisconsinhistory.org/
- Pages specific to Shawano County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Brown County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Langlade County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Marathon County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Menominee County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Oconto County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Outagamie County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Waupaca County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Brown County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Shawano County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Shawano County
Cemeteries Near Thornton ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thornton.
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 Thornton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Friendship Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friendship Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- The Friendship Cemetery has also been known as:
- Lange Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friendship Cemetery
- Lake Drive Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Drive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- The Lake Drive Cemetery has also been known as:
- Lundquist Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Drive Cemetery
- St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- The St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. John's Hermansfort Cemetery
- St. John's Hermansfort Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Bomke Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bomke Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- The Bomke Cemetery has also been known as:
- Belle Plaine Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bomke Cemetery
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- The Woodlawn Cemetery has also been known as:
- Shawano City Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
- St. Francis Solanus Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Solanus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Solanus Cemetery
- St. Marys Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
- St. Peter Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peter Cemetery
- St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2373262 <4>
- Red Springs Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Springs Cemetery
- St. Michael Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michael Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michael Cemetery
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- The St. Michaels Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Michaels Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michaels Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #89123 <4>
- Continue List (148 more) ...
- Elias Lutheran Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elias Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elias Lutheran Cemetery
- St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #88991 <4>
- Zion Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
- Elias Lutheran Cemetery
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.<5>
While we didn't find Thornton in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Thornton.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Thornton, with the one closest to Thornton listed first.
- Shawano
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawano
- Shawano is located in Shawano County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,885 people
- Belle Plaine
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle Plaine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plaine
- Belle Plaine is located in Shawano County
- Gresham
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresham
- Gresham is located in Shawano County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 563 people
- Pella
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Keshena
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keshena
- Keshena is located in Menominee County
- Leopolis
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leopolis
- Leopolis is located in Shawano County
- Embarrass
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Caroline
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Cecil
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Marion
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
- Marion is located in Waupaca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,167 people
- Buckbee
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Clintonville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clintonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Clintonville is located in Waupaca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,353 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Bonduel
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonduel
- Bonduel is located in Shawano County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,411 people
- Hunting
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest) - Leeman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bonduel
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Thornton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thornton.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Thornton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Shawano County: www.co.shawano.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> | If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thornton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thornton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7966, Longitude: -88.6912 In this case, the coordinates for Thornton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Thornton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |