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 Williams (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 Williams. 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 and hospitals 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.
Williams is located in Etowah 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 Etowah County: Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Marshall & Saint Clair.
Below are the counties that are near Williams. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Williams:
- Etowah County (The home county of Williams)
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Brannon Springs ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Brannon Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brannon Springs
- Pilgrims Rest
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Pilgrims Rest is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrims Rest
- Rainbow City
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Markton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Markton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markton
- Attalla
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Alabama City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Alabama City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabama City
- Bennettsville ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Bennettsville is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennettsville
- Ivalee
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Ivalee is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivalee
- Gadsden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Benson ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Benson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
- Black Creek Falls ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Black Creek Falls is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek Falls
- Burns Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Burns Park is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns Park
- Clear Springs ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Clear Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Springs
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Appalachian
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Appalachian is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appalachian
- Straight Mountain
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Straight Mountain is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Mountain
- Taits Gap
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Taits Gap is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taits Gap
- Bird ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Bird is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
- Highland Lake
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Highland Lake is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Hoods Crossroads
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Hoods Crossroads is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Crossroads
- Wynnville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- Oneonta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Clarence
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Fridays Crossing
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Fridays Crossing is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridays Crossing
- Snead
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Susan Moore
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
- Highmound
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Southside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Cochran Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cochran Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran Springs
- Oak Level
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Oak Level is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Ohatchee
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Douthrittville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
- Grayton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Grayton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayton
- Hebron ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hebron is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Macon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Macon is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
- Beasley ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Beasley is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beasley
- Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
- Clark ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Clark is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
- Wellington
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Wellington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington
- Boozer ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Boozer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boozer
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Ball Flat
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Leesburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Anderson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Centre
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Coloma ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Coloma is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Sand Rock
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Mount Zion ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Mount Zion is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Rodentown
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Rains ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Cotnam
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Crossville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Collinsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Dawson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Rogers
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Jefferson County
- Ayres
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Ayres is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayres
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Whitesville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Boaz
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Bartlett ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bartlett is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
- Douglas
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Reedbrake ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
- Horton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Horton is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
- Albertville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Bowen ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bowen is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowen
- Hyatt
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hyatt is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyatt
- Rabbit Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
- Big Spring ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Big Spring is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
- Gregory
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Gregory is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Hustleville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Steele
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Ashville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Whitney Junction is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney Junction
- Ragland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Wattsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Wattsville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsville
- Coal City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Coal City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
- Saint Clair Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Clair Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair Springs
- Riverside
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Branchville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
- Seddon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Seddon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seddon
- Odenville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Springville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Avondale Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Avondale Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale Village
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Lincoln
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Colony
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Colony is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Coldwater
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Coldwater is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
- Windsong Island
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island
- Grant Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Grant Town is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Town
- Silver Run
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Silver Run is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Run
- Munford
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- McElderry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- McElderry is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McElderry
- Kentuck
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Kentuck is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentuck
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Williams, see our County-by-County Page for Williams.
Cemeteries Near Williams ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williams.
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 Williams - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Williams covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Heald Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Green Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Shiloh Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Rainbow Memorial Gardens
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- McCartney Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Deerman Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Alabama City Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ten Island Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lee Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Brasher Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Southern Hill Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southern Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Southern Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Gadsden.
- The Southern Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
- Sixth Street Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2297800 <2>
- Continue List (350 more) ...
- Forrest Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Conn Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Red Hill Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 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.<3>
While we didn't find Williams in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Williams.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Etowahton
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Etowahton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etowahton
- Hood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hood is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
- Steele
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Markton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Markton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markton
- Attalla
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Ottery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ottery is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottery
- Stanfield ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Stanfield is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanfield
- Norton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Norton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
- Ohatchee
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Peek's Hill ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Peek's Hill is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peek's Hill
- Gadsden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Whitney
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Whitney is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Ashville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Francis
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Francis is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
- East Gadsden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- East Gadsden is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gadsden
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Williams. See our List of 1890's Communities around Williams.
Newspapers Published in Williams ...
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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williams.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Williams, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Williams.
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 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 Williams:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Etowah County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- DeKalb County
- Jefferson County
- Marshall County
- Saint Clair County
- Talladega County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
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 Williams, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Williams) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |