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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 Oakley (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 Oakley. 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 and 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.

Oakley is located in Saginaw County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Saginaw County: Bay, Clinton, Genesee, Gratiot, Midland, Shiawassee & Tuscola.

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

  • Saginaw County     (The home county of Oakley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Chesaning
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chapin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Brant
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brant
      • Brant is located in Saginaw County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brant <1>
    • Layton Corners
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Luce ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Luce. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
      • Luce is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Luce
      • From Oakley to Luce
    • Fenmore
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Saint Charles
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Charles have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Charles
      • Saint Charles is located in Saginaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Charles <1>
    • Nelson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Garfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Garfield is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Garfield
      • From Oakley to Garfield
    • Burt
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Orr
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Orr. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
      • Orr is located in Saginaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Orr
      • From Oakley to Orr
    • Lakefield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bay County
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Elsie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Ovid
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ovid have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovid
      • Ovid is located in Clinton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,607 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ovid <1>
    • Duplain
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Shepardsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Eureka
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
      • Eureka is located in Clinton County
    • Price
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Price. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price
      • Price is located in Clinton County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Price
      • From Oakley to Price
    • Saint Johns
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Johns have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns
      • Saint Johns is located in Clinton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,904 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Johns <1>
    • Bath
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
      • Bath is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bath <1>
    • Maple Rapids
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Rapids have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Rapids
      • Maple Rapids is located in Clinton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
    • East DeWitt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • De Witt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gunnisonville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Genesee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Montrose
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Flushing
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flushing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flushing
      • Flushing is located in Genesee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,840 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flushing <1>
    • Duffield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Clio
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clio. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clio
      • Clio is located in Genesee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,480 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clio <1>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Clio
      • From Oakley to Clio
    • Swartz Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swartz Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swartz Creek
      • Swartz Creek is located in Genesee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,491 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Swartz Creek <1>
    • Farrandville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Gaines
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Morris
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Beecher
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beecher have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beecher
      • Beecher is located in Genesee County
    • Flint
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Genesee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genesee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genesee
      • Genesee is located in Genesee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Genesee <1>
    • Burton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Gratiot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Bannister
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Ashley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Edgewood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Edgewood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood
      • Edgewood is located in Gratiot County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Edgewood
      • From Oakley to Edgewood
    • Sickles
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • North Star
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Pompeii
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Wheeler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheeler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
      • Wheeler is located in Gratiot County
    • Breckenridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breckenridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
      • Breckenridge is located in Gratiot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,265 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Breckenridge <1>
    • Ithaca
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ithaca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithaca
      • Ithaca is located in Gratiot County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,744 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ithaca <1>
    • North Wheeler
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Wheeler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wheeler
      • North Wheeler is located in Gratiot County
    • Perrinton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Middleton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Ingham County
    • Haslett
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haslett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haslett
      • Haslett is located in Ingham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haslett <1>
  • Livingston County
  • Midland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Ryan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ryan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan
      • Ryan is located in Midland County
    • Redstone
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Porter
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Shiawassee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Henderson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henderson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
      • Henderson is located in Shiawassee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henderson <1>
    • Smith Crossing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Owosso
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • New Lothrop
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Lothrop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lothrop
      • New Lothrop is located in Shiawassee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Lothrop <1>
    • Five Points
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Middletown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middletown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
      • Middletown is located in Shiawassee County
    • Juddville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Burton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Corunna
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corunna have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corunna
      • Corunna is located in Shiawassee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,320 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corunna <1>
    • Vernon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Newburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Lennon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lennon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lennon
      • Lennon is located in Shiawassee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 479 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lennon <1>
  • Tuscola County

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

Cemeteries Near Oakley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oakley.

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

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

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 Oakley had a population of 299 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Oakley had a population of 271 people.

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

  • Chesaning
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Henderson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henderson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
    • Henderson is located in Shiawassee County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Henderson <1>
  • Easton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Easton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
    • Easton is located in Shiawassee County
  • Chapin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Groveton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groveton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveton
    • Groveton is located in Saginaw County
  • Carland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carland
    • Carland is located in Shiawassee County
  • Brant
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brant
    • Brant is located in Saginaw County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brant <1>
  • Owosso
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Layton Corners
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Luce ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Luce. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luce
    • Luce is located in Saginaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Luce
    • From Oakley to Luce
  • Burton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Kerby
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kerby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerby
    • Kerby is located in Shiawassee County
    • Kerby has also been known as:
    • Kerby Mine
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • New Lothrop
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Lothrop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lothrop
      • New Lothrop is located in Shiawassee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Lothrop <1>
    • Saint Charles
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Charles have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Charles
      • Saint Charles is located in Saginaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Charles <1>
    • Elsie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Oakley ...

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 145 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakley.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Oakley. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Oakley and those printed in the larger area surrounding Oakley.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Oakley.

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 Oakley:

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

The official website for Saginaw County: www.saginawcounty.com/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/

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 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.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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- Oakley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oakley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1411, Longitude: -84.1684    
<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 Oakley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025