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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 Olney (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 Olney. 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.

Olney is located in Coal County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Coal County: Atoka, Hughes, Johnston, Pittsburg & Pontotoc.

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

  • Coal County     (The home county of Olney)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Clarita
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lehigh
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Phillips
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Phillips is located in Coal County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillips
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
    • Centrahoma
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Tupelo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Coalgate
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Atoka County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Atoka
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Tushka
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Tushka is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tushka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Stringtown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Bruno
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Bruno is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruno
    • Caney
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Wardville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bentley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Bentley is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley
    • Lane
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Bryan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Kenefic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Caddo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Matoy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Matoy is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoy
    • Armstrong
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Armstrong is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstrong
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
    • Silo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Silo is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
  • Hughes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Citra
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Citra is located in Hughes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citra
    • Non
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Non is located in Hughes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Non
    • Gerty
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Gerty is located in Hughes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gerty
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
  • Johnston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Wapanucka
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Bromide
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Coleman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Connerville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Milburn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Reagan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Reagan is located in Johnston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reagan
    • Tishomingo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Bee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Bee is located in Johnston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee
    • Mill Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Ravia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Marshall County
    • Little City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Little City is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little City
  • Murray County
    • Hickory
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Hickory is located in Murray County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
  • Pittsburg County
    • Ashland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ashland is located in Pittsburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
  • Pontotoc County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Jesse
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jesse is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jesse
    • Stonewall
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lula
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Lula is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lula
    • Harden City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Harden City is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harden City
    • Fittstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Franks
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Franks is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franks
    • Ahloso
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Ahloso is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ahloso
    • Homer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Homer is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
    • Fitzhugh
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ada
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Ada is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,239 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ada <1>
    • Allen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Oakman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Oakman is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakman
    • Roff
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Roff is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roff
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 715 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roff <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Olney ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Olney.

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

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

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

  • Davis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Keel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Sealy Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Moore Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Whitehall Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Nixon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Wilson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Standing Rock Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Byrds Prairie Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Valley View Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lehigh Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (146 more) ...
    • Round Lake Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lawrence - Banks Family Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Columbus Rose Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Olney ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Olney.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Olney, 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 Olney.

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 helpful 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 Olney:

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