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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 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.

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 hospitals and 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.

Conway is located in Walsh County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Walsh County: Marshall (MN), Cavalier, Grand Forks, Nelson, Pembina & Ramsey.

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

  • Walsh County     (The home county of Conway)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
    • Pisek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Fordville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Forest River
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Park River
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Lankin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Mandt
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Mandt is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandt
    • Praha ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Praha is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Praha
    • Minto
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Ardoch
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Herriott
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Herriott is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herriott
    • Kerry ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Kerry is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerry
    • Grafton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Grand Forks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
    • Inkster
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Orr
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Orr is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
    • Johnstown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
    • Gilby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <1>
    • McCanna
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
    • Niagara
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Mekinock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Larimore
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Arvilla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Emerado
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Kelly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Kelly is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
    • Manvel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Manvel is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <1>
    • Kempton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Kempton is located in Grand Forks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempton
  • Nelson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
    • Petersburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Whitman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Whitman is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitman
    • Michigan City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Michigan City is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
    • Michigan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mapes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Mapes is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapes
  • Pembina County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
    • Crystal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Gardar
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Gardar is located in Pembina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardar
    • Saint Thomas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Marshall County (MN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Conway, with the one closest to Conway listed first.
    • Oslo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Oslo is located in Marshall County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oslo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oslo <1>
    • Big Woods
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Big Woods is located in Marshall County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods

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

Cemeteries Near Conway ...

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.

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 Conway - one of the links might be able to help.

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.

  • St. Marks Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • East Forest River Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Forest River Colony Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Inkster Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • St. Lukes Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Middle Forest River Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Park River.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #101787 <2>
  • Park River Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (61 more) ...
    • Kensington Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Christianson Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hyde Park Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 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 Conway had a population of 224 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Conway had a population of 21 people.

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

  • Pisek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Inkster
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Veseleyville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Veseleyville is located in Walsh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veseleyville
  • Orr
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Orr is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
  • Forest River
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Voss
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Voss is located in Walsh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voss
  • Park River
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Johnstown
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Johnstown is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
  • Praha ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Praha is located in Walsh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Praha
  • Gilby
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilby is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilby <1>
  • Minto
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • McCanna
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • McCanna is located in Grand Forks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCanna
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Ardoch
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Grafton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Nash
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Nash is located in Walsh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash

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 ...

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 45 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 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Conway.

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 professional and volunteer 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:

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 Conway, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Conway) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.