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 Brans Chapel (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 Brans Chapel. 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 Brans Chapel ...
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.
While the name of this community is Brans Chapel, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Brans Chapel may originally have been Bran's Chapel.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Brans Chapel might be written as Bran Chapel.
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.
Brans Chapel is located in Etowah 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 Etowah County: Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Marshall & Saint Clair.
Below are the counties that are near Brans Chapel. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brans Chapel:
- Etowah County (The home county of Brans Chapel)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Ridgeville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Ridgeville is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Reece City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Reece City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reece City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Carlisle
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Carlisle is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
- Bennettsville ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Bennettsville is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennettsville
- Egypt
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Egypt is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
- Crudup
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Mountainboro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mountainboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainboro
- Benson ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Benson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
- Ivalee
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ivalee is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivalee
- Alabama City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Alabama City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabama City
- Black Creek Falls ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Black Creek Falls is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek Falls
- Howelton
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Howelton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howelton
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Highmound
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- Bird ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Bird is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
- Snead
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Wynnville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- McLarty
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- McLarty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLarty
- Taits Gap
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Taits Gap is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taits Gap
- Clarence
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Fridays Crossing
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Fridays Crossing is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridays Crossing
- Susan Moore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
- Fowler ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fowler is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
- Bright Star
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Bright Star is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Craig
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Craig is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
- Hoods Crossroads
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Hoods Crossroads is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Crossroads
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Southside
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Douthrittville ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
- Oak Level
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Level is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Cochran Springs
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Cochran Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran Springs
- Colvins Gap
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Colvins Gap is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colvins Gap
- Hebron ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Hebron is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Mack ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Mack is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
- Grayton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Grayton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayton
- Ohatchee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Wellington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wellington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington
- Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
- Angel
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Angel is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Leesburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Ball Flat
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Anderson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Sand Rock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Centre
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Coloma ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Coloma is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Moshat
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Moshat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshat
- Cedar Bluff
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Tucker Crossroads
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Tucker Crossroads is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Crossroads
- Noah
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Noah is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noah
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Joppa
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Holly Pond
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Mount Zion ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Mount Zion is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Rodentown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Rains ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Crossville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Cotnam
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Rogers
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Collinsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dawson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Geraldine
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Whiton
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Chigger Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Chigger Hill is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Hill
- Lakeview
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lakeview is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Boaz
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Bartlett ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bartlett is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
- Reedbrake ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
- Albertville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Horton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Horton is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
- Hustleville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Rabbit Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
- Hyatt
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hyatt is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyatt
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Bowen ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Bowen is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowen
- Gregory
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Gregory is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Steele
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney Junction
- Ashville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ragland
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Saint Clair Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Clair Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair Springs
- Wattsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Wattsville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsville
- Springville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brans Chapel, see our County-by-County Page for Brans Chapel.
Cemeteries Near Brans Chapel ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brans Chapel.
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 Brans Chapel - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brans Chapel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Noble Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Cave Spring Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Cox Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Butler Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Macedonia Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Leath Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hibbs Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Gilland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Webb Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Carnes Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ivalee Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (409 more) ...
- Red Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Happy Hill Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Howelton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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 Brans Chapel in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brans Chapel.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brans Chapel, with the one closest to Brans Chapel listed first.
- Littleton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Littleton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
- Norton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Norton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
- Avery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Avery is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Crudup
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Mountainboro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mountainboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainboro
- Howelton
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Howelton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howelton
- Stanfield ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Stanfield is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanfield
- Attalla
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Gadsden
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brice
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Brice is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice
- Duck Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Pulltight
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Pulltight is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulltight
- Aurora
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Aurora is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Fenton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Fenton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenton
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brans Chapel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brans Chapel.
Newspapers Published in Brans Chapel ...
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 Brans Chapel.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brans Chapel, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brans Chapel.
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 helpful 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 Brans Chapel:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Etowah County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- Cullman County
- DeKalb County
- Marshall County
- Saint Clair 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brans Chapel) 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 Brans Chapel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |