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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 Staley (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 Staley. 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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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.

Staley is located in Bryan 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 Bryan County: Atoka, Choctaw, Johnston, Marshall, Fannin (TX), Grayson (TX) & Lamar (TX).

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

  • Bryan County     (The home county of Staley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Staley, with the one closest to Staley listed first.
    • Colbert
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cartwright
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Platter
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hendrix
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Achille
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Calera
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Kemp
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Mead
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Silo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Silo is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
    • Durant
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Yarnaby
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Yarnaby is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yarnaby
    • Armstrong
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Armstrong is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstrong
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
  • Johnston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Staley, with the one closest to Staley listed first.
    • Bee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Bee is located in Johnston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee
    • Milburn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Tishomingo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Staley, with the one closest to Staley listed first.
    • McBride
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • McBride is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McBride
    • New Woodville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • New Woodville is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Woodville
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 132 people
    • Kingston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Shay
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Shay is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shay
    • Cumberland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Cumberland is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
    • Little City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Little City is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little City
    • Madill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lebanon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Oakland is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,161 people
  • Collin County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Staley, with the one closest to Staley listed first.
    • Van Alstyne
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Sedalia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Sedalia is located in Collin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedalia
    • Mantua ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Mantua is located in Collin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantua
  • Cooke County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Staley, with the one closest to Staley listed first.
    • Dexter
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Dexter is located in Cooke County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dexter
    • Coesfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Coesfield is located in Cooke County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coesfield
    • Callisburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Callisburg is located in Cooke County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callisburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
  • Fannin County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Staley, with the one closest to Staley listed first.
    • Mulberry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Mulberry is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
    • Savoy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Savoy is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savoy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Savoy <1>
    • Sowells Bluff
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Sowells Bluff is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sowells Bluff
    • Ravenna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridings
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ridings is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridings
    • Ector
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Ector is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ector
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 746 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ector <1>
    • Ivanhoe
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Whitewright
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Boyd
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Boyd is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
    • Bonham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Bonham is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,471 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bonham <1>
    • Orangeville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Orangeville is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orangeville
    • Edhube
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Edhube is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edhube
  • Grayson County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Staley, with the one closest to Staley listed first.
    • Red River City
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Red River City is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red River City
    • Denison
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Denison is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denison
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,792 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denison <1>
    • Preston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Preston is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
    • Frontier Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Frontier Village is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Village
    • Twin City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Twin City is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin City
    • Pottsboro
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Knollwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Knollwood is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knollwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 503 people
    • Sherman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Sherman is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 45,136 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sherman <1>
    • Locust
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Locust is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust
    • Bells
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bells is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,516 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bells <1>
    • Gage
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Gage is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gage
    • Cedar Mills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Cedar Mills is located in Grayson County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills

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

Cemeteries Near Staley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Staley.

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

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

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

  • Garden of Memory Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Brown Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Magnolia Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Yarbrough Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Coffman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Shannon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Lankford Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lankford Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lankford Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the east of Denison (TX).
    • The Lankford Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Langford Cemetery
    • Papaw Hill Cemetery
    • Paw Paw Hill Cemetery
    • Shiloh Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4747 <2>
  • Platter Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Government Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (278 more) ...

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>

While we didn't find Staley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Staley.

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

  • Ray
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Ray is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray
  • Denison
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Denison is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denison
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,792 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denison <1>
  • Preston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Preston is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
  • Sherman
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Sherman is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherman
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 45,136 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sherman <1>
  • Mulberry
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Mulberry is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
  • Steedham
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Steedham is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steedham
  • Bells
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bells is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,516 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bells <1>
  • Cedar Mills
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Mills is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
  • Luella
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Luella is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luella
  • Ida
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Ida is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida
  • Basin Springs
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Basin Springs is located in Grayson County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basin Springs
  • Savoy
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Savoy is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savoy
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Savoy <1>
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Gordonville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Southmayd
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Ravenna
      (19 miles [30.6 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 Staley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Staley.

Newspapers Published in Staley ...

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 83 newspapers that have been published in the area around Staley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Staley, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Staley.

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 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 Staley:

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 from Point A (ie- Staley) 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 Staley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.