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 Beards Mill (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 Beards Mill. 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.
Name Variations for Beards Mill ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Beards Mill: Beards Ml. (or less commonly used: Beards Mll.)
- While the name of this community is Beards Mill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Beards Mill may originally have been Beard's Mill.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Beards Mill might be written as Beard Mill.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 and 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.
Beards Mill is located in Pickens County.
To see how the shape of Alabama's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pickens County: Fayette, Greene, Lamar, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Lowndes (MS) & Noxubee (MS).
Below are the counties that are near Beards Mill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Beards Mill:
- Pickens County (The home county of Beards Mill)
- The following are listed by their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- McShan
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- McShan is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McShan
- Coal Fire
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Coal Fire is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Fire
- Stansel
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Stansel is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stansel
- Reform
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Ethelsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ethelsville is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethelsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
- Carrollton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Carrollton is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrollton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 935 people
- Archer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Archer is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
- Macedonia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Macedonia is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedonia
- Bell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Bell is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
- Stafford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Stafford is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford
- Gordo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Beaver Town
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Beaver Town is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Town
- Pickensville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pickensville is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickensville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 572 people
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- Ashcraft Corner
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ashcraft Corner is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashcraft Corner
- Belk
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Belk is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belk
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Fayette
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Old Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Old Town is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
- Rossland City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rossland City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossland City
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- Lewiston
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Lewiston is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewiston
- Mantua
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Mantua is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantua
- Union
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Union is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- West Greene
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- West Greene is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Greene
- Lamar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- Millport
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Fernbank
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Fernbank is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernbank
- Kennedy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kennedy is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
- Hightogy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Hightogy is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightogy
- Vernon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Bedford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Bedford is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford
- Sumter County
- Panola
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Panola is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- Echola
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Echola is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echola
- Elrod
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Elrod is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
- Buhl
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Buhl is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buhl
- Coker
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Samantha
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Samantha is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samantha
- New Lexington
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- New Lexington is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lexington
- Ralph
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Clay County (MS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- Waverly
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Waverly is located in Clay County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
- Vinton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Vinton is located in Clay County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Lowndes County (MS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- New Hope
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- New Hope is located in Lowndes County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
- Columbus
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Bent Oak
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Bent Oak is located in Lowndes County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Oak
- Caledonia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Kolola Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Kolola Springs is located in Lowndes County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kolola Springs
- Crawford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Artesia
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Artesia is located in Lowndes County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artesia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 420 people
- Monroe County (MS)
- Hamilton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Noxubee County (MS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- Ravine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ravine is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravine
- Deerbrook
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Deerbrook is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerbrook
- Harlan ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Harlan is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan
- Brooksville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Cooksville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cooksville is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Macon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Macon is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,384 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Macon <2>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Beards Mill, see our County-by-County Page for Beards Mill.
Cemeteries Near Beards Mill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Beards Mill.
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 Beards Mill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Beards Mill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- Union Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Zion Possum Bend Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Phoenix Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Liberty Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Mineral Springs Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Funderburk Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Beard Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Thomasson Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Gore Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hebron Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Coal Fire Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Carden Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (446 more) ...
- Mt. Moriah Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Old Mt. Moriah Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Crossroads Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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.<5>
While we didn't find Beards Mill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Beards Mill.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Beards Mill, with the one closest to Beards Mill listed first.
- Coal Fire
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Coal Fire is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Fire
- Reform
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Bell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Bell is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
- Stafford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Stafford is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford
- Dillburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Dillburg is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillburg
- Palmetto
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Palmetto is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmetto
- Gordo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Millport
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- New Hope
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- New Hope is located in Lowndes County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
- Garden
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Garden is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden
- Lubbub
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Lubbub is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lubbub
- Fernbank
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Fernbank is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernbank
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Bigbee Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bigbee Valley is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigbee Valley
- Olney
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Olney is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olney
- Kennedy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kennedy is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Beards Mill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Beards Mill.
Newspapers Published in Beards Mill ...
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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Beards Mill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Beards Mill, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Beards Mill.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Beards Mill:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Pickens County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fayette County
- Greene County
- Lamar County
- Sumter County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Clay County
- Lowndes County
- Monroe County
- Noxubee County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- Beards Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Beards Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |