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 Collyer (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 Collyer. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Collyer is located in Trego County.
To see how the shape of Kansas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Trego County: Ellis, Gove, Graham, Ness, Rooks, Rush & Sheridan.
Below are the counties that are near Collyer. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Collyer:
- Trego County (The home county of Collyer)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collyer, with the one closest to Collyer listed first.
- WaKeeney
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Trego
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Trego is located in Trego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trego
- Trego has also been known as:
- Trego Center
- Trego Tank
- Ogallah
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Ogallah is located in Trego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogallah
- Ellis County
- Ellis
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Gove County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collyer, with the one closest to Collyer listed first.
- Quinter
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Park is located in Gove County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Grainfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Gove City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Gove City is located in Gove County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gove City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
- Gove City has also been known as:
- Gove
- Grinnell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Grinnell is located in Gove County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grinnell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
- Grinnell has also been known as:
- Grinnette Springs
- Graham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collyer, with the one closest to Collyer listed first.
- Saint Peter
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Saint Peter is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Peter
- Morland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Penokee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Penokee is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penokee
- Hill City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Ness County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collyer, with the one closest to Collyer listed first.
- Arnold
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Arnold is located in Ness County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Utica
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Ransom
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Sheridan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collyer, with the one closest to Collyer listed first.
- Studley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Studley is located in Sheridan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Studley
- Hoxie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Collyer, see our County-by-County Page for Collyer.
Cemeteries Near Collyer ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Collyer.
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 Collyer - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Collyer covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Collyer, with the one closest to Collyer listed first.
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Union Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Old Order German Baptist Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Baker Twp. Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Red Top Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Saline Valley Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- St. Anthony Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Christ the King Catholic Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christ the King Catholic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Christ the King Catholic Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of WaKeeney.
- The Christ the King Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
- Wakeeney Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2150688 <2>
- Christ the King Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Wakeeney City Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakeeney City Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Wakeeney City Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of WaKeeney.
- The Wakeeney City Cemetery has also been known as:
- Wakeeney Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #94009 <2>
- Kansas Veterans Cemetery at Wakeeney
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (34 more) ...
- Bethel Christian Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Leland Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Collyer had a population of 100 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Collyer had a population of 98 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Collyer, with the one closest to Collyer listed first.
- Quinter
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- WaKeeney
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Park is located in Gove County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Grainfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Gove City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Gove City is located in Gove County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gove City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
- Gove City has also been known as:
- Gove
- Ogallah
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Ogallah is located in Trego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogallah
- Morland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Studley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Studley is located in Sheridan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Studley
- Penokee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Penokee is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penokee
- Alanthus ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Alanthus is located in Gove County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alanthus
- Tasco
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Tasco is located in Sheridan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tasco
- Utica
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Continue List (5 more) ...
- Hill City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Hoxie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Grinnell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Grinnell is located in Gove County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grinnell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
- Grinnell has also been known as:
- Grinnette Springs
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Collyer. See our List of 1890's Communities around Collyer.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Collyer ...
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 89 newspapers that have been published in the area around Collyer.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Collyer. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Collyer and those printed in the larger area surrounding Collyer.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Collyer.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Collyer:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Trego County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Ellis County
- Gove County
- Graham County
- Ness County
- Sheridan County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kansas
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 Collyer, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Collyer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |