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 West Bancroft (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 West Bancroft. 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 West Bancroft ...
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 have occurred.
For example, a typical abbreviation for West Bancroft: W. Bancroft
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 northeast 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 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.
West Bancroft is located in Portage 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 Portage County: Adams, Marathon, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara & Wood.
Below are the counties that are near West Bancroft. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Bancroft:
- Portage County (The home county of West Bancroft)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Bancroft, with the one closest to West Bancroft listed first.
- Almond
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
- Almond is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
- Blaine
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
- Blaine is located in Portage County
- Plover
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Arnott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Whiting
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Park Ridge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Ridge
- Park Ridge is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 496 people
- Custer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
- Custer is located in Portage County
- Stevens Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevens Point
- Stevens Point is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 25,949 people
- Amherst Junction
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amherst Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Junction
- Amherst Junction is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 392 people
- Amherst
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst
- Amherst is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,082 people
- Lake Emily ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lake Emily. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Emily
- Lake Emily is located in Portage County
- Nelsonville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsonville
- Nelsonville is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Bancroft, with the one closest to West Bancroft listed first.
- Leola
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - New Rome ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west) - Big Flats
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Flats
- Big Flats is located in Adams County
- Arkdale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkdale
- Arkdale is located in Adams County
- Adams
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
- Adams is located in Adams County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,905 people
- Friendship
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Adams County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 676 people
- Strongs Prairie
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strongs Prairie
- Strongs Prairie is located in Adams County
- Juneau County
- New Miner
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Miner
- New Miner is located in Juneau County
- New Miner
- Marathon County
- Ashley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashley
- Ashley is located in Marathon County
- Ashley
- Marquette County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Bancroft, with the one closest to West Bancroft listed first.
- Neshkoro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast) - Westfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Waupaca County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Bancroft, with the one closest to West Bancroft listed first.
- Cobb Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east) - Sheridan
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
- Sheridan is located in Waupaca County
- Rural
(18 miles [29 km] to the east) - King
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
- King is located in Waupaca County
- Scandinavia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scandinavia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scandinavia
- Scandinavia is located in Waupaca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people
- Waupaca
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east) - Iola
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast) - Ogdensburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)- 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
- Baldwins Mill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Baldwins Mill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwins Mill
- Baldwins Mill is located in Waupaca County
- Weyauwega
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Waushara County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Bancroft, with the one closest to West Bancroft listed first.
- Plainfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
- Plainfield is located in Waushara County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
- Hancock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Wild Rose
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Rose
- Wild Rose is located in Waushara County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 651 people
- Coloma
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - Wautoma
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast) - Mount Morris
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mount Morris. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Morris
- Mount Morris is located in Waushara County
- Saxeville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxeville
- Saxeville is located in Waushara County
- Silver Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in Waushara County
- Pine River
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine River
- Pine River is located in Waushara County
- Lohrville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast) - Redgranite
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redgranite have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redgranite
- Redgranite is located in Waushara County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,111 people
- Poy Sippi
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poy Sippi
- Poy Sippi is located in Waushara County
- Wood County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Bancroft, with the one closest to West Bancroft listed first.
- Grand Rapids
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grand Rapids. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Rapids
- Grand Rapids is located in Wood County
- Lake Wazeecha
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Wazeecha have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wazeecha
- Lake Wazeecha is located in Wood County
- Biron
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Wisconsin Rapids
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisconsin Rapids
- Wisconsin Rapids is located in Wood County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,555 people
- Port Edwards
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Edwards
- Port Edwards is located in Wood County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,752 people
- Rudolph
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest) - Nekoosa
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nekoosa
- Nekoosa is located in Wood County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,391 people
- Eight Corners
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eight Corners
- Eight Corners is located in Wood County
- Vesper
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesper
- Vesper is located in Wood County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 539 people
- Milladore
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milladore
- Milladore is located in Wood County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
- Sherry
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherry
- Sherry is located in Wood County
- Blenker
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blenker
- Blenker is located in Wood County
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Bancroft, see our County-by-County Page for West Bancroft.
Cemeteries Near West Bancroft ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Bancroft.
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 West Bancroft covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Bancroft, with the one closest to West Bancroft listed first.
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Lone Pine Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Pine Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Pine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Spiritland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spiritland Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spiritland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Guardian Angel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Guardian Angel Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Guardian Angel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- North Almond Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Almond Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Almond Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Plainfield Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plainfield Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #88736 <3>
- Hillside Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Ray Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ray Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ray Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- East German Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East German Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East German Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- St. Johns Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Liberty Corners Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liberty Corners Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #416461 <3>
- Continue List (152 more) ...
- Buena Vista Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buena Vista Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buena Vista Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Maine Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maine Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Hillside Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Buena Vista 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.<4>
While we didn't find West Bancroft in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Bancroft.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Bancroft, with the one closest to West Bancroft listed first.
- Bancroft
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Keene
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Plainfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
- Plainfield is located in Waushara County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
- Almond
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
- Almond is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
- Blaine
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
- Blaine is located in Portage County
- Meehan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Hancock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Arnott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Fancher
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Stockton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Amherst
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst
- Amherst is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,082 people
- Amherst Junction
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amherst Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Junction
- Amherst Junction is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 392 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Lake Emily ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lake Emily. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Emily
- Lake Emily is located in Portage County
- Custer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
- Custer is located in Portage County
- Stevens Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevens Point
- Stevens Point is located in Portage County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 25,949 people
- Lake Emily ‑ Historic
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Bancroft. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Bancroft.
Newspapers Published in West Bancroft ...
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 81 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Bancroft.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Bancroft, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Bancroft.
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 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 West Bancroft:
- 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 Portage County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adams County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Juneau 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
- Marquette 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
- Waushara County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Wood County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Adams County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Cemeteries of Portage County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of Wisconsin
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Bancroft. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Portage County: www.co.portage.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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 West Bancroft, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- West Bancroft) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Bancroft. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3047, Longitude: -89.5310 In this case, the coordinates for West Bancroft have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |