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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 Thomaston (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 Thomaston. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Thomaston 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 Thomaston. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Thomaston:

  • Marengo County     (The home county of Thomaston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomaston, with the one closest to Thomaston listed first.
    • Crenshaw ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Crenshaw is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crenshaw
    • Hugo
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Consul
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Consul is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Consul
    • Dayton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Flatwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Siddonsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Magnolia
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Tombigbee ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Tombigbee is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tombigbee
    • Providence
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Providence is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
    • Linden
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Faunsdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Moss ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Moss is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss
    • Blue Lock ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Blue Lock is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Lock
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomaston, with the one closest to Thomaston listed first.
    • Cedahoma ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Cedahoma is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedahoma
    • Tompkinsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Pennington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Pennington is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
    • Choctaw City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Choctaw City is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw City
    • Lavaca
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Pelham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Pelham is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
  • Clarke County
  • Dallas County
  • Greene County
  • Hale County
  • Perry County
  • Sumter County
  • Wilcox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thomaston, with the one closest to Thomaston listed first.
    • Lamison
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Catherine
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Gastonburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Alberta
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Alberta is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
    • Bethel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Bethel is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Rehoboth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Arlington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Anne Manie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Anne Manie is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anne Manie
    • Prairie Bluff ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Kimbrough
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Kimbrough is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimbrough
    • Millers Ferry
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Millers Ferry is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry
    • Pine Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Pine Hill is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 834 people
    • Yellow Bluff
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Yellow Bluff is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Bluff
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people

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

Cemeteries Near Thomaston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thomaston.

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

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

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

  • Holt Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Rivers Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Glovers Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Jericho Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cades Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Zion Campground Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Sidney Chapel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Bethel Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Little Flanders Field Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • St. Mathews Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Black Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (309 more) ...
    • St. Peter Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Paradise Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Hill 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.<2>

While we didn't find Thomaston in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Thomaston.

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

  • Crenshaw ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Crenshaw is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crenshaw
  • McKinley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • McKinley is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley
  • Dayton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Williamsburg ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Williamsburg is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
  • Octagon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Octagon is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Octagon
  • Magnolia
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Tombigbee ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Tombigbee is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tombigbee
  • Lamison
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Catherine
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Central Mills
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Linden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Shiloh
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Shiloh is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Gastonburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Hampden
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Hampden is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampden
    • Bethel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Bethel is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Thomaston ...

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 Thomaston.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Thomaston. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Thomaston and those printed in the larger area surrounding Thomaston.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3> of Thomaston.

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 Thomaston:

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