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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 Wesley (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 Wesley. 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 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.

Wesley is located in Cattaraugus County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cattaraugus County: Allegany, Chautauqua, Erie, Wyoming, McKean (PA) & Warren (PA).

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

  • Cattaraugus County     (The home county of Wesley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wesley, with the one closest to Wesley listed first.
    • Persia
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Persia is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
    • South Dayton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cottage
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Cottage is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage
    • Cattaraugus
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Otto
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Gowanda
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Gowanda is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gowanda
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,524 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gowanda <1>
    • Perrysburg
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Leon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Axeville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Axeville is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axeville
    • Eddyville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Eddyville is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddyville
    • Conewango
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Conewango is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conewango
    • Brooklyn
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Brooklyn is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Little Valley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chautauqua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wesley, with the one closest to Wesley listed first.
    • Wango
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Wango is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wango
    • Parcells Corners
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Parcells Corners is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parcells Corners
    • Cherry Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Forestville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Irving
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sheridan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Kennedy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sinclairville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Poland Center
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Poland Center is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poland Center
    • Cassadaga
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Moons
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Moons is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moons
    • Fredonia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Erie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wesley, with the one closest to Wesley listed first.
    • Morton Corners
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Morton Corners is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morton Corners
    • Shirley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Shirley is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
    • Brant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • North Collins
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Wyandale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Wyandale is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandale
    • Concord
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Concord is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
    • Farnham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pontiac
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Pontiac is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontiac
    • Springville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Angola
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Lake Erie Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Lake Erie Beach is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Erie Beach
    • Angola-on-the-Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Angola-on-the-Lake is located in Erie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angola-on-the-Lake
    • Eden
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Wyoming County
    • Arcade
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Wesley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wesley.

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

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

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

  • Park Lawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Snyder Corners Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snyder Corners Cemetery
    • The Snyder Corners Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Malks Cemetery
    • Milks Cemetery
    • Prince Cemetery
    • Rich Valley Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #65158 <2>
  • Markham Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Kendell Flats Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Snyder Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Pauls of the Cross Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Jolls Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Lower New Albion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Rumsey Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Liberty Park Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Barber Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Broadway Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (218 more) ...
    • Maltbie Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Cottage Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Treat Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treat Cemetery
      • The Treat Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Leon Center Cemetery
      • Leon Union Cemetery
      • Treat Memorial Cemetery
      • Union Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #66536 <2>

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 in 1895, Wesley had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • East Leon
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • East Leon is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Leon
  • Persia
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Persia is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
  • Markhams
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Markhams is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markhams
  • Dayton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • South Dayton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Cattaraugus
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cottage
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cottage is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage
  • Leon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Perrysburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • New Albion
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Otto
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Gowanda
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Gowanda is located in Cattaraugus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gowanda
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,524 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gowanda <1>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Wango
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Wango is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wango
    • Collins
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Nashville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Nashville is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville

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

Newspapers Published in Wesley ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wesley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wesley, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wesley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Wesley:

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 Wesley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Wesley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.