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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 Ortley (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 Ortley. 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 hospitals 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.

Ortley is located in Roberts County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Roberts County: Big Stone (MN), Traverse (MN), Richland (ND), Day, Grant & Marshall.

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

  • Roberts County     (The home county of Ortley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ortley, with the one closest to Ortley listed first.
    • Summit
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Spring Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Grove is located in Roberts County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
      • Estimated population in 2014: 125 people
    • Wilmot
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Goodwill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Goodwill is located in Roberts County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwill
      • Estimated population in 2014: 876 people
    • Peever Flats
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Peever Flats is located in Roberts County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peever Flats
    • Peever
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Corona
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Sisseton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Long Hollow Housing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Long Hollow Housing is located in Roberts County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hollow Housing
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 192 people
    • Hartford Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Hartford Beach is located in Roberts County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartford Beach
      • Estimated population in 2014: 126 people
    • South Dakota Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • South Dakota Park is located in Roberts County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dakota Park
      • Estimated population in 2014: 15 people
    • Shady Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Shady Beach is located in Roberts County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Beach
  • Clark County
    • Bradley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Codington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ortley, with the one closest to Ortley listed first.
    • Florence
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • South Shore
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Wallace
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rauville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Rauville is located in Codington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rauville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 292 people
    • Waverly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Watertown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Day County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ortley, with the one closest to Ortley listed first.
    • Waubay
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Grenville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Webster
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Roslyn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Holmquist
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Holmquist is located in Day County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmquist
      • Estimated population in 2014: 154 people
    • Lily
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Lily is located in Day County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily
      • Estimated population in 2019: 4 people
    • Butler
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Butler is located in Day County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
    • Bristol
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ortley, with the one closest to Ortley listed first.
    • Marvin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Twin Brooks
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Stockholm
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Milbank
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Strandburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ortley, with the one closest to Ortley listed first.
    • Eden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Eden is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <1>
    • Lake City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Big Stone County (MN)
    • Beardsley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Traverse County (MN)
    • Browns Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Browns Valley is located in Traverse County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people

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

Cemeteries Near Ortley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ortley.

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

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

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

  • Ortley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Old Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Lakewood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Summit Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Blue Dog Grave
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Summit Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • St. James Indian Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Old Ascension Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Egeland Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bergen Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (87 more) ...
    • Mazeppa Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Antelope Valley Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Osceola Cemetery #1
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola Cemetery #1
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Osceola Cemetery #1 is located outside and to the north of Marvin.
      • The Osceola Cemetery #1 has also been known as:
      • Marvin Lutheran Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2368922 <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>

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

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

  • Waubay
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Summit
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Marvin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Webster
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Wilmot
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Goodwill
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Goodwill is located in Roberts County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwill
    • Estimated population in 2014: 876 people
  • Roslyn
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • South Shore
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Corona
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Twin Brooks
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Butler
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Butler is located in Day County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 16 people
  • Lily
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lily is located in Day County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily
    • Estimated population in 2019: 4 people
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Waverly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Browns Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Browns Valley is located in Traverse County (MN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
    • Troy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Troy is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy

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

Newspapers Published in Ortley ...

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 68 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ortley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ortley, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ortley.

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 Ortley:

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