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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 Cotnam (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 Cotnam. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Cotnam is located in DeKalb 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 DeKalb County: Cherokee, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall, Chattooga (GA), Dade (GA) & Walker (GA).

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

  • DeKalb County     (The home county of Cotnam)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotnam, with the one closest to Cotnam listed first.
    • Dawson
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Crossville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Collinsville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Marcus ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Marcus is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
    • Rodentown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Geraldine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Floy ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Floy is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
    • Mount Vernon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Mount Vernon is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
    • Lakeview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Clyde ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Clyde is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Rains ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Rains is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
    • Mount Zion ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Blount County
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotnam, with the one closest to Cotnam listed first.
    • Colvins Gap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Douthrittville ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
    • Oak Level
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Southside
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Collins ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Collins is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
    • Adelia ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Adelia is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
    • Mack ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Mack is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Goshen is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Cochran Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Hebron ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Angel
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Germania Springs ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Germania Springs is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germania Springs
  • Cherokee County
  • Etowah County
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotnam, with the one closest to Cotnam listed first.
    • Rock City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Rock City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
    • Langston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Section
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Dutton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Dodsonville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
    • Ferncliff ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Ferncliff is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
    • Gray ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Gray is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
    • Aspel
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Dry Cove ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Dry Cove is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Cove
    • Central
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Scottsboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Pisgah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotnam, with the one closest to Cotnam listed first.
    • Peters ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Peters is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
    • Boaz
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Hustleville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Albertville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Minorville ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Minorville is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
    • Mid ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Mid is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
    • Bartlett ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Bartlett is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
    • Rabbit Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
    • Whitesville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Gregory
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Rayburn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Columbus City Ferry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
  • Saint Clair County
    • Steele
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Steele is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,093 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steele <1>
  • Chattooga County (GA)

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

Cemeteries Near Cotnam ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cotnam.

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

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

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

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Cotnam had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Dawson
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Chumley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Chumley is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chumley
  • Crossville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Rodentown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Marcus ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Marcus is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
  • Skirum
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Skirum is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skirum
  • Collinsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Wills ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Wills is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wills
  • Yancy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Geraldine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Keener
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Leonard
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Leonard is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Portersville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Portersville is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville
    • Floy ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Floy is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
    • Duck Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Cotnam ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cotnam.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cotnam, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cotnam.

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 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 Cotnam:

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