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 Wills Valley (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 Wills Valley. 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 Wills Valley ...
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 Wills Valley: Wills Vly. (or less commonly used: Wills Vally. or Wills Vlly.)
- While the name of this community is Wills Valley, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wills Valley may originally have been Will's Valley.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wills Valley might be written as Will Valley.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.
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 north 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.
Wills Valley is located in DeKalb 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 DeKalb County: Cherokee, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall, Chattooga (GA), Dade (GA) & Walker (GA).
Below are the counties that are near Wills Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wills Valley:
- DeKalb County (The home county of Wills Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Fort Payne
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Douglas
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Douglas is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
- Pine Ridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Ridge is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Cordell ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Cordell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordell
- Adamsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Adamsburg is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
- Chavies
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Chavies is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chavies
- Alpine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Alpine is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Bootsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bootsville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootsville
- Luna ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Luna is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
- Sylvania
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sylvania is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvania
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,860 people
- Rainsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Dog Town
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Dog Town is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dog Town
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Blanche
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Blanche is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanche
- Taft
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Taft is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
- Berry Springs ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Berry Springs is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry Springs
- Grover
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Grover is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
- New Moon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- New Moon is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Moon
- Broomtown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Broomtown is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomtown
- Ringgold
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ringgold is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringgold
- Starkville ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Starkville is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starkville
- Sand Rock
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Gaylesville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Springs ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Springs is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
- Anderson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Keener
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Yancy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Hale ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hale is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Turkeytown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Wilsonia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Wilsonia is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonia
- Duck Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Ballplay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Ballplay is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballplay
- Coat's Bend
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Whitesboro
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesboro
- Anderson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Anderson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Coato Bend ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Coato Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coato Bend
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Central
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Central is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Rock City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Rock City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Dutton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dutton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Gray ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Gray is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Pisgah
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ferncliff ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Ferncliff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
- Section
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Flat Rock
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Bellefonte ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bellefonte is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefonte
- Langston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Hollywood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Scottsboro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Peters ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Mid ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Mid is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
- Hustleville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Columbus City Ferry
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
- Columbus City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Columbus City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Grant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Chattooga County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Cloudland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Menlo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Menlo is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 454 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menlo <2>
- Chattoogaville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Chattoogaville is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattoogaville
- Berryton
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Berryton is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
- Lyerly
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Taliaferro ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Taliaferro is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taliaferro
- Estimated population in 2019: 71 people
- Summerville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Euthtilloga ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Euthtilloga is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euthtilloga
- Population from the 2010 Census: 29,011 people
- Pennville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Pennville is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennville
- Trion
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Trion is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trion
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,905 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trion <2>
- Zula ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Zula is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zula
- Dade County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Rising Fawn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Stewart Town
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Stewart Town is located in Dade County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart Town
- Trenton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Floyd County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Coosa
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Oreburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Oreburg is located in Floyd County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreburg
- Armuchee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Central Grove ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Central Grove is located in Floyd County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Grove
- Estimated population in 2019: 377 people
- Walker County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Bronco
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Bronco is located in Walker County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronco
- Estimated population in 2019: 367 people
- Martindale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Martindale is located in Walker County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martindale
- Population from the 2010 Census: 35,795 people
- Cassandra
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cassandra is located in Walker County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassandra
- Kensington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- LaFayette
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Linwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Linwood is located in Walker County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linwood
- Durham
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Durham is located in Walker County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
- Population from the 2010 Census: 1,257 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wills Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Wills Valley.
Cemeteries Near Wills Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wills Valley.
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 Wills Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wills Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Franklin Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Lankford Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Green Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Scott Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Green Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Sulphur Springs Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Antioch Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Glenwood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Stewart Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Smith Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Mountain View Memorial Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Mt. Herman Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (460 more) ...
- Hammack Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Husky Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Fisher Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
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.<4>
While we didn't find Wills Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wills Valley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wills Valley, with the one closest to Wills Valley listed first.
- Fort Payne
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Blake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Blake is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake
- Cordell ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Cordell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordell
- Chavies
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Chavies is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chavies
- Luna ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Luna is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
- Musgrove ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Musgrove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Musgrove
- Collbran
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Collbran is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collbran
- Lydia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Lydia is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
- Valley Head
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Mahan ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Mahan is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahan
- Snake Creek ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Snake Creek is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snake Creek
- Lebanon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Jamestown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Jamestown is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Mentone
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bankhead
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bankhead is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bankhead
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wills Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wills Valley.
Newspapers Published in Wills Valley ...
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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wills Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wills Valley, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wills Valley.
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 websites either 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 Wills Valley:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to DeKalb County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cherokee County
- Etowah County
- Jackson County
- Marshall County
- Chattooga County
- Dade County
- Floyd County
- Walker 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> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Wills Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Wills Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |