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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 Colleen (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 Colleen. 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 hospitals 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.

Colleen is located in Nelson County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Nelson County: Albemarle, Appomattox, Augusta & Buckingham.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Colleen ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Colleen.

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

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

  • Woodland Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Centenary Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • White Rock Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Rock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stevens Cove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stevens Cove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stevens Cove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethlehem UMC Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Giles Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Giles Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Giles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jonesboro Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Camden Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Henley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Henley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cash Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cash Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cash Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Memorial Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Oak Hill Memorial Gardens has also been known as:
    • Oak Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    • Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #51478 <4>
  • Harewood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (203 more) ...
    • Harvey Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harvey Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harvey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Thompson Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Colleen had a population of 8 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Arrington
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arrington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrington
    • Arrington is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arrington <2>
  • Roseland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roseland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Roseland is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roseland <2>
  • Tye River
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tye River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tye River
    • Tye River is located in Nelson County
  • Lovingston
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lovingston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovingston
    • Lovingston is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lovingston <2>
  • Bryant
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bryant. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
    • Bryant is located in Nelson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bryant
    • From Colleen to Bryant
  • Clifford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
    • Clifford is located in Amherst County
  • New Glasgow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Glasgow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
    • New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to New Glasgow
    • From Colleen to New Glasgow
  • Massies Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Buffalo Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Norwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Norwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
    • Norwood is located in Nelson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Norwood
    • From Colleen to Norwood
  • Lowesville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Tyro
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Gidsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gidsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gidsville
      • Gidsville is located in Amherst County
    • Greenway
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenway have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
      • Greenway is located in Nelson County
    • Sandidges
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sandidges. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
      • Sandidges is located in Amherst County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sandidges
      • From Colleen to Sandidges

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

Newspapers Published in Colleen ...

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 11 newspapers that have been published in the area around Colleen.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Colleen, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Colleen.

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 either 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 Colleen:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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 Colleen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Colleen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Colleen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7093, Longitude: -78.9313