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 Winchester (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 Winchester. 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 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.

Winchester is located in Vilas 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 Vilas County: Gogebic (MI), Iron (MI), Forest, Iron, Oneida & Price.

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

• Vilas County     (The home county of Winchester)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Winchester, with the one closest to Winchester listed first.
  • Katinka Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Katinka Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katinka Village
    • Katinka Village is located in Vilas County
  • Manitowish Waters
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manitowish Waters have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manitowish Waters
    • Manitowish Waters is located in Vilas County
  • Lac du Flambeau
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lac du Flambeau
    • Lac du Flambeau is located in Vilas County
  • Sayner
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayner
    • Sayner is located in Vilas County
  • Saint Germain
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Germain
    • Saint Germain is located in Vilas County
    • Former names for Saint Germain:
    • Farmington
    • Lakewood
• Iron County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Winchester, with the one closest to Winchester listed first.
  • Manitowish
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manitowish
    • Manitowish is located in Iron County
  • Hurley
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurley
    • Hurley is located in Iron County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,424 people
  • Gile
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gile
    • Gile is located in Iron County
  • Montreal
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montreal
    • Montreal is located in Iron County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 752 people
• Oneida County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Winchester, with the one closest to Winchester listed first.
  • Woodruff
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodruff
    • Woodruff is located in Oneida County
  • Hazelhurst
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelhurst
    • Hazelhurst is located in Oneida County
• Gogebic County (MI)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Winchester, with the one closest to Winchester listed first.
  • Marenisco
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marenisco
    • Marenisco is located in Gogebic County (MI)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marenisco <2>
  • Ramsay
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramsay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsay
    • Ramsay is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Wakefield
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wakefield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakefield
    • Wakefield is located in Gogebic County (MI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,653 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wakefield <2>
  • Yale
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
    • Yale is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Bessemer
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bessemer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bessemer
    • Bessemer is located in Gogebic County (MI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,687 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bessemer <2>
  • Ironwood
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironwood
    • Ironwood is located in Gogebic County (MI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,814 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ironwood <2>
  • White City
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • White City is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Connorville
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Connorville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connorville
    • Connorville is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Hillcrest
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
    • Hillcrest is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • North Ironwood
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Ironwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ironwood
    • North Ironwood is located in Gogebic County (MI)
• Ontonagon County (MI)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Winchester, with the one closest to Winchester listed first.
  • Lake Gogebic
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Gogebic
    • Lake Gogebic is located in Ontonagon County (MI)
  • Bergland
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bergland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bergland
    • Bergland is located in Ontonagon County (MI)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bergland <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Winchester ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Winchester.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Winchester, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Winchester.

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 Winchester:

• 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 Vilas County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Iron County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Oneida County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Gogebic County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Ontonagon County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Wisconsin
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Wisconsin
  • Cemeteries of Vilas County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Wisconsin
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Wisconsin

Cemeteries Near Winchester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Winchester.

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

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

• Winchester Memorial Cemetery
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Winchester Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winchester Memorial Cemetery
• Presque Isle Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Presque Isle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presque Isle Cemetery
• Mercer Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mercer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mercer Cemetery
• Pines Cemetery
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pines Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pines Cemetery
• Marenisco Twp. Cemetery
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marenisco Twp. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marenisco Twp. Cemetery
• Presbyterian Church Cemetery
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presbyterian Church Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2545031 <4>
• Lakeside Cemetery
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
• Hillcrest Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • The Hillcrest Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Bessemer Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #713 <4>
• St. Marys Cemetery
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • 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
• Riverside Cemetery
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Riverside Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Ironwood (MI).
  • The Riverside Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Ironwood Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1499 <4>
• Plum Lake Cemetery
  (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • The Plum Lake Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Sayner Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plum Lake Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #223983 <4>
• Evergreen Cemetery
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
• Continue List   (8 more) ...
  • Forest Garden Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Garden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Garden Cemetery
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary 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 Winchester in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Winchester.

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

• Mercer
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mercer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercer
  • Mercer is located in Iron County
• Hartley
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartley
  • Hartley is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Hartley has also been known as:
  • Hartleys
• Wellington
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wellington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington
  • Wellington is located in Gogebic County (MI)
• Ramsay
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramsay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsay
  • Ramsay is located in Gogebic County (MI)
• Wakefield
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wakefield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakefield
  • Wakefield is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,653 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wakefield <2>
• Bessemer
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bessemer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bessemer
  • Bessemer is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,687 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bessemer <2>
• Jessieville
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jessieville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jessieville
  • Jessieville is located in Gogebic County (MI)
• Siemens
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Siemens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siemens
  • Siemens is located in Gogebic County (MI)
• Ironwood
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironwood
  • Ironwood is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,814 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ironwood <2>
• Thomaston
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thomaston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomaston
  • Thomaston is located in Gogebic County (MI)
• Hurley
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurley
  • Hurley is located in Iron County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,424 people
• Thayer
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thayer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thayer
  • Thayer is located in Gogebic County (MI)
• Continue List   (5 more) ...
  • Tula
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tula have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tula
    • Tula is located in Gogebic County (MI)
  • Woodruff
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodruff
    • Woodruff is located in Oneida County
  • Minocqua
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minocqua have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minocqua
    • Minocqua is located in Oneida County

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

The official website for Vilas County: www.co.vilas.wi.us/

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