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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 Orwell (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 Orwell. 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.

Orwell is located in Oswego County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Oswego County: Cayuga, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida & Onondaga.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Orwell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orwell.

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

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

  • Gilbert Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilbert Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilbert Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Potter Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Potter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Potter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Chateaugay Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chateaugay Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chateaugay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stowell Drive Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stowell Drive Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stowell Drive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pekin Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pekin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pekin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richland Village Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richland Village Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richland Village Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Salmon River Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Stevens Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stevens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stevens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Noyes Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Noyes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Noyes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wesleyan Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wesleyan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wesleyan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (220 more) ...
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Albion Center Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Albion Center Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Albion Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Union Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union 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 Orwell had a population of 314 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Richland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Lacona
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Ricard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ricard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricard
    • Ricard is located in Oswego County
  • Boylston Center
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boylston Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boylston Center
    • Boylston Center is located in Oswego County
  • Sandy Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Pulaski
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Greenboro
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenboro
    • Greenboro is located in Oswego County
  • North Boylston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Boylston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Boylston
    • North Boylston is located in Oswego County
  • Dugway
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dugway. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dugway
    • Dugway is located in Oswego County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Dugway
    • From Orwell to Dugway
  • Kasoag
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kasoag have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kasoag
    • Kasoag is located in Oswego County
  • Daysville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Daysville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daysville
    • Daysville is located in Oswego County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Daysville
    • From Orwell to Daysville
  • Redfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Winona
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winona have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
      • Winona is located in Jefferson County
    • Port Ontario
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Ontario have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Ontario
      • Port Ontario is located in Oswego County
    • Mannsville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Orwell ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orwell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orwell, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orwell.

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 Orwell:

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

The official website for Oswego County: www.co.oswego.ny.us/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Orwell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orwell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5751, Longitude: -75.9962    
<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 Orwell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025