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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 Mantua (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 Mantua. 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 southwest 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 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.

Mantua is located in Greene 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 Greene County: Hale, Marengo, Pickens, Sumter & Tuscaloosa.

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

  • Greene County     (The home county of Mantua)
  • Hale County
  • Pickens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mantua, with the one closest to Mantua listed first.
    • Benevola
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Olney
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Aliceville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • McMullen
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • McMullen is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMullen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9 people
    • Garden
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Carrollton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Gordo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Gordo is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,594 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gordo <1>
    • Beaver Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Beaver Town is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Town
    • Bell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Stansel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Pickensville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Memphis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Memphis is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
  • Sumter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mantua, with the one closest to Mantua listed first.
    • Panola
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Gainesville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Geiger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Epes
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Epes is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
    • Sumterville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bethel ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Bethel is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
  • Tuscaloosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mantua, with the one closest to Mantua listed first.
    • Ralph
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Foster's
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Elrod
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Elrod is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
    • Buhl
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Buhl is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buhl
    • Coker
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Coker is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 953 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coker <1>
    • Echola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Echola is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echola
    • Sahama Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Sahama Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sahama Village
    • Ingleside Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Ingleside Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside Village
    • Northport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Tuscaloosa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • University
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Alberta City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Alberta City is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta City
  • Kemper County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mantua, with the one closest to Mantua listed first.
    • Binnsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Giles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Noxubee County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mantua, with the one closest to Mantua listed first.
    • Cooksville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Ravine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Harlan ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Harlan is located in Noxubee County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan

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

Cemeteries Near Mantua ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mantua.

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

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

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

  • Manatua Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Hebron Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Hopewell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Sixteenth Section Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Forest Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Beulah Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Moriah Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Bethesda Churchyard Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Henderson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Ellis Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (472 more) ...

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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Mantua had a population of 53 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Union
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Union is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
  • Benevola
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Lewiston
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Olney
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Knoxville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Knoxville is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
  • Clinton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • West Greene
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Romulus
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Romulus is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romulus
  • Bridgeville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Bridgeville is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeville
  • Sylvan
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Sylvan is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Mantua ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mantua.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mantua, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mantua.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Mantua:

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>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.
<3>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 Mantua, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Mantua) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.