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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 Willard (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 Willard. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Willard is located in Clark 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 Clark County: Chippewa, Eau Claire, Jackson, Marathon, Taylor & Wood.

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

  • Clark County     (The home county of Willard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Greenwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Globe
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Globe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
      • Globe is located in Clark County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Globe
      • From Willard to Globe
    • Loyal
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loyal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyal
      • Loyal is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,229 people
    • Reseburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Neillsville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neillsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neillsville
      • Neillsville is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,375 people
    • Spokeville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Atwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Thorp
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thorp have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorp
      • Thorp is located in Clark County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,604 people
    • Owen
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Riplinger
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Granton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Humbird
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Chippewa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Stanley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
      • Stanley is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,705 people
    • Boyd
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boyd have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Boyd is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 528 people
    • Cadott
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cadott have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadott
      • Cadott is located in Chippewa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,411 people
    • Drywood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Eau Claire County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Fairchild
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairchild have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairchild
      • Fairchild is located in Eau Claire County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 607 people
    • Hay Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Augusta
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Augusta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta
      • Augusta is located in Eau Claire County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,517 people
    • Fall Creek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fall Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Creek
      • Fall Creek is located in Eau Claire County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,291 people
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Merrillan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrillan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrillan
      • Merrillan is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
    • Hatfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Alma Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alma Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma Center
      • Alma Center is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 491 people
    • Levis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Levis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levis
      • Levis is located in Jackson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Levis
      • From Willard to Levis
    • Requa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Pray
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hixton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • York
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for York. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
      • York is located in Jackson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to York
      • From Willard to York
    • Sechlerville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Black River Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Marathon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Spencer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Unity
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unity have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
      • Unity is located in Marathon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 329 people
    • McMillan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McMillan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMillan
      • McMillan is located in Marathon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to McMillan
      • From Willard to McMillan
  • Taylor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Lublin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lublin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lublin
      • Lublin is located in Taylor County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 113 people
    • Polley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Gilman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Stetsonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stetsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stetsonville
      • Stetsonville is located in Taylor County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
  • Trempealeau County
    • Osseo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Wood County

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

Cemeteries Near Willard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willard.

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 Willard covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.

  • Holy Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Willard Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Seif Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Seif Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Seif Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Weston Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Side Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Side Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Side Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Butler Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butler Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Pine Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Pine Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Pine Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Loyal City Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Loyal City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Loyal City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (123 more) ...
    • St. Anthony Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Anthony Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Anthony Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Trinity Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • York Center Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

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 Willard in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willard.

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

  • Globe
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Globe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
    • Globe is located in Clark County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Globe
    • From Willard to Globe
  • Greenwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Christie
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christie
    • Christie is located in Clark County
  • Loyal
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loyal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyal
    • Loyal is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,229 people
  • Longwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
    • Longwood is located in Clark County
  • Neillsville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neillsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neillsville
    • Neillsville is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,375 people
  • Fairchild
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairchild have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairchild
    • Fairchild is located in Eau Claire County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 607 people
  • Spokeville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Lombard
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lombard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lombard
    • Lombard is located in Clark County
  • Thorp
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thorp have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorp
    • Thorp is located in Clark County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,604 people
  • Humbird
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Granton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Withee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Eidsvold
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Veefkind
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Veefkind. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veefkind
      • Veefkind is located in Clark County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Veefkind
      • From Willard to Veefkind

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Willard ...

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 66 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willard.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Willard. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Willard and those printed in the larger area surrounding Willard.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Willard.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Willard:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Willard. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Clark County: www.co.clark.wi.us/

The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<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 Willard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Willard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Willard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7334, Longitude: -90.7213    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025