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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 Weston (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 Weston. 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.

Weston is located in Umatilla County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Umatilla County: Grant, Morrow, Union, Wallowa, Benton (WA), Columbia (WA) & Walla Walla (WA).

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

  • Umatilla County     (The home county of Weston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Weston, with the one closest to Weston listed first.
    • Athena
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Blue Mountain
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Blue Mountain is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
    • Adams
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Milton - Freewater
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Gibbon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
    • Bingham Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bingham Springs is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingham Springs
    • Spofford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Spofford is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spofford
    • Umapine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Umapine is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umapine
    • Cayuse
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Helix
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Calhounville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Calhounville is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhounville
    • Havana
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Havana is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Weston, with the one closest to Weston listed first.
    • Elgin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Elgin is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,801 people
      • Former names for Elgin:
      • Fish Trap
      • Indian Valley
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elgin <1>
    • Summerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Walla Walla County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Weston, with the one closest to Weston listed first.
    • Calhounville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Calhounville is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhounville
    • Mojonnier
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Mojonnier is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mojonnier
    • College Place
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Garrett
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Garrett is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett
    • Walla Walla
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lowden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Touchet
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Kibler
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Kibler is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibler
    • Rulo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Rulo is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rulo
    • Dixie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Berryman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Berryman is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryman
    • Wallula Junction
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Wallula Junction is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula Junction

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

Cemeteries Near Weston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Weston.

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

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

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

  • Weston Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Key Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Athena Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Hyatt Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Old City Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Red Elk Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Homeli Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Bowlus Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Greasewood Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greasewood Cemetery
    • The Greasewood Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Gallaher Cemetery
  • Finland Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Ford Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford Cemetery
    • The Ford Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Ballou Cemetery
    • Valley Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38788 <2>
  • Helix Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • German Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Valley Chapel Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Agency Indian Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)

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 Weston had a population of 568 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Weston had a population of 650 people.

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

  • Downing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Downing is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downing
  • Athena
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Blue Mountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Blue Mountain is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
  • Adams
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Gibbon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
  • Cayuse
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Spofford
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Spofford is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spofford
  • Helix
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Havana
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Havana is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
  • Stanton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Stanton is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
  • Fulton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Fulton is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
  • Mission
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mission is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Vansycle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Vansycle is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vansycle
    • Walla Walla
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Touchet
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Weston ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Weston.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Weston. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Weston and those printed in the larger area surrounding Weston.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Weston.

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 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 Weston:

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 Weston, 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- Weston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.