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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

Although we found mention of Conley during our research, we have little information about it.<1> Given the context of how Conley was mentioned, we believe that it was a community rather than a locale or some type of landmark. We have done a cursory search and if it was a community, we haven't been able to find any evidence that it still exists..

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 Conley (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 Conley. 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 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.

Conley is located in Union County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Union County: Baker, Grant, Umatilla & Wallowa.

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

  • Union County     (The home county of Conley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Conley, with the one closest to Conley listed first.
    • Island City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island City
      • Island City is located in Union County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,024 people
    • La Grande
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Imbler
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Orodell ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Orodell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orodell
      • Orodell is located in Union County
    • Summerville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hot Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hot Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Lake
      • Hot Lake is located in Union County
    • Cove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Hilgard
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hilgard have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilgard
      • Hilgard is located in Union County
    • Union
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Elgin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Elgin is located in Union County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,801 people
      • Former names for Elgin:
      • Fish Trap
      • Indian Valley
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elgin <2>
    • North Powder
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Powder have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Powder
      • North Powder is located in Union County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 458 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Powder <2>
    • Starkey
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Baker County
    • Hutchinson ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hutchinson have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchinson
      • Hutchinson is located in Baker County
  • Umatilla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Conley, with the one closest to Conley listed first.
    • Meacham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Tollgate
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tollgate
      • Tollgate is located in Umatilla County
    • Bingham Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingham Springs
      • Bingham Springs is located in Umatilla County
    • Gibbon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gibbon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
      • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
  • Wallowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Conley, with the one closest to Conley listed first.
    • Wallowa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallowa have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallowa
      • Wallowa is located in Wallowa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallowa <2>
    • Lostine
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Evans
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
      • Evans is located in Wallowa County

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

Newspapers Published in Conley ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Conley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Conley, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Conley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Conley:

Cemeteries Near Conley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Conley.

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

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

  • Island City Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Island City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Island City Cemetery
  • Ackles Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ackles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ackles Cemetery
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hillcrest Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in La Grande.
    • The Hillcrest Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Masonic Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38904 <6>
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Hillcrest East Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Grandview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lower Cove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • The Lower Cove Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Wright Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower Cove Cemetery
  • Summerville - Imbler Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Summerville - Imbler Cemetery is located between<7> the communities of Imbler and Summerville.  The cemetery lies less than 2 miles<5> to the southeast of Summerville.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Summerville - Imbler Cemetery
  • Cove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cove Cemetery
  • Hilgard Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hilgard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hilgard Cemetery
  • Indian Creek Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Creek Cemetery
  • Union Victorian Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Elgin Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elgin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elgin Cemetery
    • Rugg Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rugg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rugg Cemetery
    • Galloway Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)

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.<8>

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

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

  • Alicel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alicel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alicel
    • Alicel is located in Union County
  • Island City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island City
    • Island City is located in Union County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,024 people
  • La Grande
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Imbler
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Hot Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hot Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Lake
    • Hot Lake is located in Union County
  • Summerville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Perry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
    • Perry is located in Union County
  • Cove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hilgard
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hilgard have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilgard
    • Hilgard is located in Union County
  • Union
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Elgin
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
    • Elgin is located in Union County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,801 people
    • Former names for Elgin:
    • Fish Trap
    • Indian Valley
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elgin <2>
  • North Fork
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fork
    • North Fork is located in Umatilla County
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Huron
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
      • Huron is located in Umatilla County
    • Kamela
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kamela have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kamela
      • Kamela is located in Union County
    • Telocaset
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Telocaset have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Telocaset
      • Telocaset is located in Union County

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

The official website for Union County: www.union-county.org/

The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer. For example, we might find a sentence like "He went north past Conley and then turned east". While Conley could be some kind of landmark, we think that it's more likely to be a community. We've added Conley as a placeholder with the hope that we'll be able to add more information in the future.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Conley could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.

Since confusion between counties is common, we searched and weren't able to find another Oregon community named Conley.
<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 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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Conley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Conley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.3688, Longitude: -117.9936    
<6>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.
<7>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Imbler and Summerville. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<8>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 Conley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024