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 Colony (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 Colony. 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 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.
Colony is located in Anderson 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 Anderson County: Allen, Bourbon, Coffey, Franklin, Linn, Miami & Woodson.
Below are the counties that are near Colony. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Colony:
- Anderson County (The home county of Colony)
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Lone Elm
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Lone Elm is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Elm
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
- Welda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Welda is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welda
- Mont Ida
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Mont Ida is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mont Ida
- Westphalia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Westphalia is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westphalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
- Kincaid
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Kincaid is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kincaid
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
- Selma
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Selma is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Central City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Central City is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- Former name for Central City:
- Jerome
- Central City has also been known as:
- Central
- Bush City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bush City is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush City
- Glenlock
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Glenlock is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenlock
- Garnett
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Harris
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Harris is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
- Scipio
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Scipio is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scipio
- Greeley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Allen County
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Carlyle
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Carlyle is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlyle
- Geneva
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Geneva is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
- Mildred
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Mildred is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
- Estimated population in 2019: 23 people
- Gas
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Gas is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
- Iola
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Bassett
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bassett is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
- La Harpe
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bayard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bayard is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayard
- Moran
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Moran is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moran
- Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
- Moran has also been known as:
- Moran City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moran <1>
- Humboldt
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Octagon City ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Octagon City is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Octagon City
- Elsmore
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Elsmore is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsmore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
- Elsmore has also been known as:
- Elsinore
- Leanna
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Leanna is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leanna
- Bourbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Bronson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Xenia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Xenia is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Xenia
- Mapleton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Mapleton is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
- Uniontown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Uniontown is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
- Berlin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Berlin is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
- Rockford ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Rockford is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
- Petersburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Petersburg is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
- Porterville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Porterville is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterville
- Redfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Redfield is located in Bourbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Coffey County
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Aliceville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Aliceville is located in Coffey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aliceville
- Le Roy
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Burlington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- New Strawn
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Agricola
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Agricola is located in Coffey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agricola
- Halls Summit
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Halls Summit is located in Coffey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Summit
- Waverly
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Ottumwa
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ottumwa is located in Coffey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottumwa
- Gridley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Gridley is located in Coffey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gridley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
- Jacobs Creek Landing
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jacobs Creek Landing is located in Coffey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs Creek Landing
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Richmond
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Williamsburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Princeton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Lane
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lane is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Lane has also been known as:
- Lane City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lane <1>
- Homewood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Homewood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
- Ransomville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Ransomville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransomville
- Linn County
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Blue Mound
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Centerville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Centerville is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Critzer
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Critzer is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Critzer
- Goodrich
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Goodrich is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodrich
- Parker
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Parker is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Mound City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Neosho County
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Odense
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Odense is located in Neosho County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odense
- Chanute
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Stark
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Stark is located in Neosho County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stark
- Population from the 2020 Census: 66 people
- Rollin
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Rollin is located in Neosho County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollin
- Wilson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- South Ridge ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- South Ridge is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ridge
- Buffalo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Buffalo is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
- Woodson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Neosho Falls
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Neosho Falls is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neosho Falls
- Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
- Piqua
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Athens
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Athens is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
- Vernon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Vernon is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Hasty
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hasty is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hasty
- Cookville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cookville is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookville
- Durand
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Durand is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durand
- Yates Center
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- North Ridge ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- North Ridge is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ridge
- Rose
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Rose is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Colony, see our County-by-County Page for Colony.
Cemeteries Near Colony ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Colony.
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 Colony - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Colony covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Colony Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Ozark Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Carlyle Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Old Carlyle Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Valley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- County Poor Farm Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lone Elm Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Wardell Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Geneva Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Carpenter Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Welda Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welda Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Welda Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Welda.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #94037 <2>
- Continue List (162 more) ...
- Highland Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Highland Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Iola.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #92690 <2>
- Gas City Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- St. Johns Catholic Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
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 Colony had a population of 474 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Colony had a population of 424 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
- Lone Elm
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Lone Elm is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Elm
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
- Welda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Welda is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welda
- Geneva
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Geneva is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
- Iola
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Mont Ida
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Mont Ida is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mont Ida
- Westphalia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Westphalia is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westphalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
- Neosho Falls
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Neosho Falls is located in Woodson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neosho Falls
- Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
- La Harpe
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Kincaid
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Kincaid is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kincaid
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
- Aliceville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Aliceville is located in Coffey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aliceville
- Bayard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bayard is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayard
- Piqua
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Selma
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Selma is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Moran
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Moran is located in Allen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moran
- Population from the 2020 Census: 509 people
- Moran has also been known as:
- Moran City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moran <1>
- Central City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Central City is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- Former name for Central City:
- Jerome
- Central City has also been known as:
- Central
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Colony. See our List of 1890's Communities around Colony.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Colony ...
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 95 newspapers that have been published in the area around Colony.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Colony. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Colony and those printed in the larger area surrounding Colony.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Colony.
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 Colony:
- Websites specific to Kansas
- Pages specific to Anderson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allen County
- Bourbon County
- Coffey County
- Franklin County
- Linn County
- Neosho County
- Wilson County
- Woodson 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 Colony, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Colony) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |