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 Fair Oaks (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 Fair Oaks. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Fair Oaks is located in Sumter 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 Sumter County: Choctaw, Greene, Marengo, Pickens, Kemper (MS), Lauderdale (MS) & Noxubee (MS).
Below are the counties that are near Fair Oaks. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fair Oaks:
- Sumter County (The home county of Fair Oaks)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fair Oaks, with the one closest to Fair Oaks listed first.
- Panola
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Panola is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
- Geiger
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Geiger is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geiger
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Gainesville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Gainesville is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gainesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
- Bethel ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Bethel is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Emelle
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Emelle is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emelle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
- Sumterville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Sumterville is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumterville
- Sledge ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Sledge is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sledge
- Epes
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Epes is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
- Boyd
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Boyd is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
- Livingston
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Moore Town
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Moore Town is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore Town
- Brewersville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Brewersville is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewersville
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fair Oaks, with the one closest to Fair Oaks listed first.
- West Greene
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- West Greene is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Greene
- Clinton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Clinton is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Lewiston
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lewiston is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewiston
- Lizzieville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lizzieville is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lizzieville
- Boligee
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Miller
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Miller is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller
- Union
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Union is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- Mantua
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mantua is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantua
- Eutaw
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Knoxville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Knoxville is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
- Forkland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Forkland is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forkland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 583 people
- Hale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fair Oaks, with the one closest to Fair Oaks listed first.
- Oak Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Oak Village is located in Hale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Village
- Akron
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pickens County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fair Oaks, with the one closest to Fair Oaks listed first.
- Memphis
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Memphis is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
- Aliceville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Garden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Garden is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden
- McMullen
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- McMullen is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMullen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9 people
- Beaver Town
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Beaver Town is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Town
- Olney
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Olney is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olney
- Pickensville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Pickensville is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickensville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 572 people
- Benevola
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Benevola is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benevola
- Archer
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Archer is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
- Carrollton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Carrollton is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrollton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 935 people
- Stansel
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Stansel is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stansel
- Tuscaloosa County
- Ralph
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Kemper County (MS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fair Oaks, with the one closest to Fair Oaks listed first.
- Binnsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Binnsville is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binnsville
- Giles
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Giles is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles
- Scooba
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wahalak
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Wahalak is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahalak
- Electric Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Electric Mills is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Electric Mills
- Sucarnoochee
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Sucarnoochee is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sucarnoochee
- Porterville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Porterville is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterville
- Narkeeta ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Narkeeta is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narkeeta
- De Kalb
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Noxubee County (MS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fair Oaks, with the one closest to Fair Oaks listed first.
- Cooksville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cooksville is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Harlan ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Harlan is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan
- Shuqualak
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Shuqualak is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shuqualak
- Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
- Ravine
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Ravine is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravine
- Macon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- 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 <1>
- Deerbrook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Deerbrook is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerbrook
- Brooksville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mashulaville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Mashulaville is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mashulaville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Fair Oaks, see our County-by-County Page for Fair Oaks.
Cemeteries Near Fair Oaks ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fair Oaks.
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 Fair Oaks - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fair Oaks covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fair Oaks, with the one closest to Fair Oaks listed first.
- Pleasant Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Zion Valley Baptist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Galilee Baptist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Jamestown Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Hargrove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Adams Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Antioch Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Antioch Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dancy Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Watts Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Valley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Coleman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (329 more) ...
- Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Binnsville Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Souls Chapel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
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 Fair Oaks in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Fair Oaks.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Fair Oaks, with the one closest to Fair Oaks listed first.
- Warsaw
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Warsaw is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
- Vienna
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Vienna is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
- Cooksville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cooksville is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Binnsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Binnsville is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binnsville
- West Greene
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- West Greene is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Greene
- Giles
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Giles is located in Kemper County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles
- Mount Hebron
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Hebron is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hebron
- Pleasant Ridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Ridge is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
- Paulette
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Paulette is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paulette
- Memphis
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Memphis is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
- Hamner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Hamner is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamner
- Bridgeville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Bridgeville is located in Pickens County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeville
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Harlan ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Harlan is located in Noxubee County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan
- Scooba
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Sumterville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Sumterville is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumterville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Fair Oaks. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fair Oaks.
Newspapers Published in Fair Oaks ...
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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fair Oaks.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fair Oaks, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fair Oaks.
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 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 Fair Oaks:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Sumter County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Greene County
- Hale County
- Pickens County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Kemper County
- Noxubee County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fair Oaks) 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 Fair Oaks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |