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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 Linden (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 Linden. 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 Linden ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Linden was referred to as Linden Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Linden. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Linden.

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 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.

Linden is located in Marengo County and is the County Seat.

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 Marengo County: Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Perry, Sumter & Wilcox.

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

  • Marengo County     (The home county of Linden)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Linden, with the one closest to Linden listed first.
    • Providence
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Providence is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
    • Pin Hook
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Blue Lock ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Blue Lock is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Lock
    • Hugo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Beckleys ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Beckleys is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckleys
    • Dayton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Myrtlewood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Myrtlewood is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtlewood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
    • Griffins ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Griffins is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffins
    • Crenshaw ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Crenshaw is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crenshaw
    • Thomaston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Tombigbee ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Tombigbee is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tombigbee
    • Half Acre
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Linden, with the one closest to Linden listed first.
    • Cedahoma ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Cedahoma is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedahoma
    • Tompkinsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pennington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Pennington is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
    • Choctaw City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Choctaw City is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw City
    • Pelham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Pelham is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
    • Lavaca
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jachin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jachin is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jachin
    • Butler
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Cromwell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Cromwell is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell
    • Lisman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Clarke County
  • Dallas County
  • Greene County
  • Hale County
  • Perry County
  • Sumter County
  • Wilcox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Linden, with the one closest to Linden listed first.
    • Lamison
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Catherine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Anne Manie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Anne Manie is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anne Manie
    • Arlington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Gastonburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Bethel
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bethel is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Alberta
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Alberta is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
    • Kimbrough
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Kimbrough is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimbrough
    • Rehoboth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Pine Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Hill is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 834 people
    • Prairie Bluff ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Millers Ferry
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Millers Ferry is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry

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

Cemeteries Near Linden ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Linden.

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

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

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

  • St. Peter Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Providence Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Tabernacle Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Rembert Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Cades Chapel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Clover Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Octagon Baptist Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Holt Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • St. Luke Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Hopewell Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (302 more) ...
    • Paradise Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • St. Mathews Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jefferson Smalls Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

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 Linden had a population of 206 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Linden had a population of 1,853 people.

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

  • Rembert
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rembert is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rembert
  • Octagon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Octagon is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Octagon
  • Jefferson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jefferson is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
  • Myrtlewood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Myrtlewood is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtlewood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
  • Williamsburg ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Williamsburg is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
  • Dayton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Old Spring Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Old Spring Hill is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Spring Hill
  • Crenshaw ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Crenshaw is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crenshaw
  • Tombigbee ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Tombigbee is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tombigbee
  • Moss ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Moss is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss
  • Shiloh
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Shiloh is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
  • Tompkinsville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Linden ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Linden.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Linden. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Linden and those printed in the larger area surrounding Linden.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<3> of Linden.

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 Linden:

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 Linden, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Linden) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.