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 Wells Ford (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 Wells Ford. 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 Wells Ford ...
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.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Wells Ford: Wells Frd.
- While the name of this community is Wells Ford, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wells Ford may originally have been Well's Ford.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wells Ford might be written as Well Ford.
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.
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.
Wells Ford is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: DeKalb, Madison, Marshall, Dade (GA), Franklin (TN) & Marion (TN).
Below are the counties that are near Wells Ford. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wells Ford:
- Jackson County (The home county of Wells Ford)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Paint Rock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Paint Rock is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- Trenton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Woodville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Groves
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Groves is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Groves
- Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
- Lim Rock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Lim Rock is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lim Rock
- Hollytree
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hollytree is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollytree
- Aspel
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Aspel is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspel
- Larkinsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Larkinsville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkinsville
- Princeton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Princeton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
- Beachboro ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Beachboro is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beachboro
- Dry Cove ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dry Cove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Cove
- Cumberland Mountain Farm Colony ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Grove Oak
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Grove Oak is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Oak
- Hix ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hix is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hix
- Chigger Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Chigger Hill is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Hill
- Gibson Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Gibson Crossroads is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson Crossroads
- Powell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Powell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 908 people
- Whiton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Fyffe
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeview
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeview is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Luttrell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Luttrell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luttrell
- Rogers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Shiloh
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Shiloh is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Geraldine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Capshaw
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Capshaw is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capshaw
- Swancott
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Swancott is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swancott
- Center Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Center Hill is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Hill
- Wooley Springs ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wooley Springs is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooley Springs
- Westlake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Westlake is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Gurley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Maysville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Maysville is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Berkley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Berkley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Brownsboro
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Ryland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Owens' Cross Roads
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Big Cove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Big Cove is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Cove
- New Hope
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Country Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Country Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
- Greenwycke Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Greenwycke Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwycke Village
- Chase
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Chase is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase
- Mercury
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Mercury is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercury
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Grant
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Columbus City Ferry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
- Columbus City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Columbus City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Fort Deposit ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Fort Deposit is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Deposit
- Mid ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Mid is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
- Ferns Quarter ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Ferns Quarter is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferns Quarter
- North ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- North is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North
- Union Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Friendship
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Friendship is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Guntersville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Guntersville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guntersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,676 people
- Former names for Guntersville:
- Gunter's Ferry
- Gunter's Landing
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guntersville <2>
- Rayburn
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Rayburn is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rayburn
- Scant City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Scant City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scant City
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Lacey's Spring
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Morgan City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Morgan City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan City
- Briscoe
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Briscoe is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briscoe
- Valhermoso Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Apple Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Apple Grove is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
- Winton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Winton is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winton
- Bluff City ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bluff City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Florette
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Florette is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florette
- Ryan Crossroads
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ryan Crossroads is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan Crossroads
- Franklin County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Huntland
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Beans Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Beans Creek is located in Franklin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans Creek
- Sal City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Sal City is located in Franklin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sal City
- Lexie
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Lexie is located in Franklin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexie
- Anderson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Anderson is located in Franklin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Lincoln County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Flintville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Flintville is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flintville
- Population from the 2010 Census: 627 people
- Corder Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Corder Crossroads is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corder Crossroads
- Goshen ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Goshen is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
- Howell Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Howell Hill is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell Hill
- Park City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Park City is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
- Park City Heights
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Park City Heights is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City Heights
- Population from the 2010 Census: 2,442 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wells Ford, see our County-by-County Page for Wells Ford.
Cemeteries Near Wells Ford ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wells Ford.
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 Wells Ford - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wells Ford covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Jones Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Rousseau Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Clay Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Fowler Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Smith Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Flanagan Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Latham Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Walker Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Kirk Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Roberson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Rousseau Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Tipton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (910 more) ...
- Stewart Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Paint Rock Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Ross Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Wells Ford in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wells Ford.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wells Ford, with the one closest to Wells Ford listed first.
- Garth
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Garth is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garth
- Paint Rock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Paint Rock is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- Gurley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Trenton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Woodville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Padgett ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Padgett is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padgett
- Lim Rock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Lim Rock is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lim Rock
- Hollytree
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hollytree is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollytree
- Berkley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Berkley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Maysville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Maysville is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Brownsboro
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Owens' Cross Roads
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Lowe ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lowe is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowe
- Nebo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Nebo is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebo
- Larkinsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Larkinsville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkinsville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wells Ford. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wells Ford.
Newspapers Published in Wells Ford ...
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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wells Ford.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wells Ford, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wells Ford.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Wells Ford:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jackson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- DeKalb County
- Limestone County
- Madison County
- Marshall County
- Morgan County
- Franklin County
- Lincoln County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Wells Ford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wells Ford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |