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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 Langley (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 Langley. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Langley is located in Bureau County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Bureau County: Henry, La Salle, Lee, Marshall, Putnam, Stark & Whiteside.

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

  • Bureau County     (The home county of Langley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Buda
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Sheffield
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Wyanet
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Manlius
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Neponset
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mineral
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • New Bedford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Tiskilwa
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Princeton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Walnut
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Milo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Milo is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo
    • Kasbeer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Henry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Annawan
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Hooppole
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Kewanee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Atkinson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Galva
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Geneseo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Bishop Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cambridge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hickory Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Hickory Hills is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
    • Osco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Knox County
    • Altona
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • La Salle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Peru
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Peru is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,612 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peru <1>
    • Cedar Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Harmon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Nelson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Amboy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sublette
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Camp Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Henry
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Henry is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henry <1>
    • Sparland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lacon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lacon is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacon <1>
    • Hopewell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hopewell is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 394 people
  • Peoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Edelstein
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Princeville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Putnam
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Hennepin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mark
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Granville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Standard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • McNabb
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Palatine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Palatine is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Palatine
  • Rock Island County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Hillsdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Joslin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Joslin is located in Rock Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joslin
  • Stark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Osceola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Osceola is located in Stark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
    • Bradford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Modena
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Modena is located in Stark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modena
    • Castleton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Wyoming
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Toulon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • La Fayette
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Speer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • West Jersey
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • West Jersey is located in Stark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jersey
  • Whiteside County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Langley, with the one closest to Langley listed first.
    • Deer Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Tampico
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Prophetstown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lyndon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Denrock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Denrock is located in Whiteside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denrock
    • Pratt ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Pratt is located in Whiteside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
    • Rock Falls
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Sterling
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Erie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Erie is located in Whiteside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,482 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <1>
    • Galt
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Fenton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Langley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Langley.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Langley - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Langley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Sheffield Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Patrick Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Fifield Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Hopeland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Wood Family Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bunker Hills Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Sand Hill Baptist Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Manlius Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Mineral Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Walnut Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Follett Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (231 more) ...
    • Sapp Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Aldrich Family Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gold Twp. Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>

While we didn't find Langley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Langley.

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

  • Sheffield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Buda
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Wyanet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Manlius
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Neponset
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mineral
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Providence
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Providence is located in Bureau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • New Bedford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Tiskilwa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Osceola
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Osceola is located in Stark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
  • Princeton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Thomas
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Thomas is located in Bureau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Annawan
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Bradford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Milo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Milo is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo

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

Newspapers Published in Langley ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Langley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Langley, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Langley.

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 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 Langley:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Langley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Langley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.