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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 Putnam (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 Putnam. 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 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.

Putnam is located in Marengo 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 Marengo County: Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Perry, Sumter & Wilcox.

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

  • Marengo County     (The home county of Putnam)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Putnam, with the one closest to Putnam listed first.
    • Nanafalia
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Barrons ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Barrons is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrons
    • Aimwell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Sweet Water
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Half Acre
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dixon's Mills
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Dixon's Mills is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon's Mills
    • Moss ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Moss is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss
    • Myrtlewood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Myrtlewood is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtlewood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
    • Ellison ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Ellison is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellison
    • Beckleys ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Beckleys is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckleys
    • Blue Lock ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Blue Lock is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Lock
    • Griffins ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Griffins is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffins
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Putnam, with the one closest to Putnam listed first.
    • Lavaca
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Butler
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pennington
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Pennington is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
    • Tompkinsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Choctaw City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Choctaw City is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw City
    • Womack Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Red Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jachin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jachin is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jachin
    • Lisman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pelham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Pelham is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
    • Toxey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Toxey is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toxey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
    • Needham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Needham is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
  • Clarke County
  • Sumter County
  • Washington County
  • Wilcox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Putnam, with the one closest to Putnam listed first.
    • Arlington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Pine Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Pine Hill is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 834 people
    • Anne Manie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Anne Manie is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anne Manie
    • Kimbrough
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Kimbrough is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimbrough
    • Lamison
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Putnam ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Putnam.

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

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

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

  • Putnam Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Gibson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Hickory Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Luker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Mariah Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Lucker Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Nanafalia Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • White Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Spencer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Campbell Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lily Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (234 more) ...
    • Bush Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Tallahatta Cemetery for Blacks
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Red House Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)

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, Putnam had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Morvin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Morvin is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morvin
  • Nanafalia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Ararat
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Ararat is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
  • Campbell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Nicholsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Nicholsville is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholsville
  • Cunningham
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Cunningham is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cunningham
  • Aimwell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Mount Sterling
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Sterling is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
  • Bashi
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Bashi is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bashi
  • Sweet Water
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Butler
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Tallahatta Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Tallahatta Springs is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallahatta Springs
  • 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 Putnam. See our List of 1890's Communities around Putnam.

Newspapers Published in Putnam ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Putnam.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Putnam, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Putnam.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Putnam:

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 Putnam, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Putnam) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.