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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 Matthew (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 Matthew. 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 doctors 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.

Matthew is located in Walla Walla County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Walla Walla County: Umatilla (OR), Benton, Columbia & Franklin.

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

  • Walla Walla County     (The home county of Matthew)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Matthew, with the one closest to Matthew listed first.
    • Magallon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Magallon is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magallon
    • Clyde
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Clyde is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Tompkins
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Tompkins is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins
    • Eureka
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Eureka is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
    • Paddock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Paddock is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock
    • Prescott
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Prescott is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
    • Berryman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Berryman is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryman
    • Rulo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Rulo is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rulo
    • Waitsburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Coppei
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Coppei is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppei
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Matthew, with the one closest to Matthew listed first.
    • Washtucna
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hatton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cunningham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Providence
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Providence is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • Lind
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Matthew, with the one closest to Matthew listed first.
    • Grange City ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Grange City is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
    • Starbuck
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Relief
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Relief is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
    • Menoken
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Menoken is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menoken
    • Delaney
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Delaney is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
    • Huntsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Huntsville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Matthew, with the one closest to Matthew listed first.
    • Windust
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Windust is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windust
    • Kahlotus
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Connell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Mesa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Mesa is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 514 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesa <1>
    • Eltopia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Basin City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Whitman County

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

Cemeteries Near Matthew ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Matthew.

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

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

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

  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Cemetery
    • The Lakeview Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Kahlotus Cemetery
  • Michigan Prairie Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Bones Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Delight Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Washtucna Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Connell Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Ivy Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Hatton Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Paradise Flats Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Eltopia Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kansas Prairie Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bemis Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lind Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 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.<4>

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

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

  • Kahlotus
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Clyde
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Clyde is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
  • Sulphur
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sulphur is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur
  • Lee
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Lee is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
  • Grange City ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Grange City is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
  • Eureka
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Eureka is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Washtucna
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Connell
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Starbuck
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Prescott
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Prescott is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
  • Hatton
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Climax
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Climax is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Relief
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Relief is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
    • Eltopia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Alto
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Alto is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto

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

Newspapers Published in Matthew ...

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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Matthew.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Matthew, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Matthew.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Matthew:

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>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- Matthew) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Matthew, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.