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 Conway (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 Conway. 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.
A Few Details for Conway ...
While it's still very early in our research, we found that:
Conway was settled in 1762.
It was incorporated in 1775.
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 hospitals 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.
East Deerfield (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Deerfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
The following are listed by their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
East Windsor (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Windsor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Savoy Center. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
The following are listed by their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
North Chester (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Chester. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Swift River. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Hatfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
North Amherst (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Amherst. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
North Hadley (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Hadley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
The following are listed by their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
North Dana ‑ Historic (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Dana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
Greenwich Village ‑ Historic (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenwich Village. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
Greenwich ‑ Historic (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenwich. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winchester. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Conway.
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 Conway covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
Howland Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cricket Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Boyden Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Shirkshire Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
West Deerfield Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Deerfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Ashfield Plain Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ashfield Plain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Whately Center Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Name of Jesus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
St. Stanislaus Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Laurel Hill Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laurel Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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.<6>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Conway had a population of 900 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Conway had a population of 1,875 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
West Deerfield (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Deerfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
East Deerfield (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Deerfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Conway. See our List of 1890's Communities around Conway.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Conway ...
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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Conway.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Conway. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Conway and those printed in the larger area surrounding Conway.
An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<7> of Conway.
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 helpful 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 Conway:
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.
<2>
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.
<3>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>
The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MACRIS (for the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System). More information about the MHC and MACRIS can be found on their website: mhc-macris.net.
When visiting the MACRIS website, you might encounter their page requiring the 'Acceptance of Terms'. With your acceptance, you'll be transfered to the desired page.
<5>
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.
<6>
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 Conway, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>
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- Conway) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Conway. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5094, Longitude: -72.6985