RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Nebraska >> Greeley County >> O'Connor >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 O'Connor (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 O'Connor. 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 and doctors 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.

O'Connor is located in Greeley County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Greeley County: Boone, Garfield, Howard, Nance, Sherman, Valley & Wheeler.

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

  • Greeley County     (The home county of O'Connor)
    • The following are listed by their distance from O'Connor, with the one closest to O'Connor listed first.
    • Greeley Center
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Greeley Center is located in Greeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greeley Center
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
    • Greeley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Brayton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Brayton is located in Greeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brayton
    • Wolbach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Horace ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Horace is located in Greeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horace
    • Scotia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Spalding
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from O'Connor, with the one closest to O'Connor listed first.
    • Primrose
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Rapids
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Akron
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Akron is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron
    • Loretto
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Loretto is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
    • Albion
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Boone
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Boone is located in Boone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone
  • Howard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from O'Connor, with the one closest to O'Connor listed first.
    • Cotesfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Cotesfield is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotesfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
    • Cushing
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Cushing is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
    • Elba
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Dannevirke
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Dannevirke is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dannevirke
    • Saint Paul
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Farwell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Nysted
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Nysted is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nysted
    • Dannebrog
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Saint Libory
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Merrick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from O'Connor, with the one closest to O'Connor listed first.
    • Palmer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Archer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Worms
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Worms is located in Merrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worms
  • Nance County
    • The following are listed by their distance from O'Connor, with the one closest to O'Connor listed first.
    • Belgrade
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Fullerton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Sherman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from O'Connor, with the one closest to O'Connor listed first.
    • Ashton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • North Loup City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • North Loup City is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Loup City
    • Loup City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Loup City is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loup City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
      • Loup City has also been known as:
      • Loup
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loup City <1>
  • Valley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from O'Connor, with the one closest to O'Connor listed first.
    • North Loup
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Olean
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Olean is located in Valley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olean
    • Sumter
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Sumter is located in Valley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
    • Ord
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Ord is located in Valley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ord
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,052 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ord <1>
    • Elyria
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Wheeler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from O'Connor, with the one closest to O'Connor listed first.
    • Ericson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bartlett
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near O'Connor ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of O'Connor.

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 O'Connor - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for O'Connor covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • O'Connor Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Swedish Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Greeley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greeley Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Greeley Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Greeley.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #909888 <2>
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Summit Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Wolbach Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • North Logan Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Enfield Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • St. Michaels Cemetery - North
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (71 more) ...
    • North Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • South Logan Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Spring Creek Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that O'Connor had a population of 56 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Brayton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Brayton is located in Greeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brayton
  • Greeley Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Greeley Center is located in Greeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greeley Center
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
  • Greeley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Wolbach
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Horace ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Horace is located in Greeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horace
  • Belfast
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Belfast is located in Greeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfast
  • Scotia
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Cotesfield
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cotesfield is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotesfield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
  • Cushing
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Cushing is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 33 people
  • North Loup
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Elba
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Dannevirke
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dannevirke is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dannevirke
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Cedar Rapids
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Sumter
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Sumter is located in Valley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
    • Olean
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Olean is located in Valley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olean

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

Newspapers Published in O'Connor ...

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 110 newspapers that have been published in the area around O'Connor.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of O'Connor, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for O'Connor.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 O'Connor:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- O'Connor) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 O'Connor, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.