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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 Clay (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 Clay. 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.

Clay is located in White County.

To see how the shape of Arkansas' counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of White County: Cleburne, Faulkner, Independence, Jackson, Lonoke, Prairie & Woodruff.

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

  • White County     (The home county of Clay)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Pangburn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Letona
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letona
      • Letona is located in White County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
    • Sunnydale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Davenport ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Davenport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davenport
      • Davenport is located in White County
    • Bliss ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bliss have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss
      • Bliss is located in White County
    • Center Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Searcy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searcy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searcy
      • Searcy is located in White County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,543 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Searcy <1>
    • Judsonia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Judsonia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judsonia
      • Judsonia is located in White County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,992 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Judsonia <1>
    • Bald Knob
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Kensett
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Higginson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Higginson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higginson
      • Higginson is located in White County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 743 people
    • Russell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • West Point
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cleburne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Rainbow Island
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Wilburn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Yuba
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yuba. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuba
      • Yuba is located in Cleburne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yuba
      • From Clay to Yuba
    • Tumbling Shoals
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Heber Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ida
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ida have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida
      • Ida is located in Cleburne County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ida <1>
    • Concord
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Drasco
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Wolf Bayou
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wolf Bayou. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Bayou
      • Wolf Bayou is located in Cleburne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wolf Bayou
      • From Clay to Wolf Bayou
    • Pearson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Almond
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Almond. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
      • Almond is located in Cleburne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Almond
      • From Clay to Almond
    • Miller ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Miller. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller
      • Miller is located in Cleburne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Miller
      • From Clay to Miller
    • Shiloh ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shiloh. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
      • Shiloh is located in Cleburne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shiloh
      • From Clay to Shiloh
  • Faulkner County
  • Independence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Floral
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Plains
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
      • Pleasant Plains is located in Independence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 356 people
    • Thida
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Locust Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
      • Locust Grove is located in Independence County
    • Salado
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salado have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salado
      • Salado is located in Independence County
    • Southside
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southside have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southside
      • Southside is located in Independence County
    • Rosie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Desha
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Oil Trough
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oil Trough have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil Trough
      • Oil Trough is located in Independence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oil Trough <1>
    • Batesville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Bethesda
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bethesda. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethesda
      • Bethesda is located in Independence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bethesda
      • From Clay to Bethesda
    • Magness
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Magness have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magness
      • Magness is located in Independence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
    • Denieville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denieville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denieville
      • Denieville is located in Independence County
  • Jackson County
    • Grand Glaise
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Glaise have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Glaise
      • Grand Glaise is located in Jackson County
  • Lonoke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Ward
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ward have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
      • Ward is located in Lonoke County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,486 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ward <1>
    • Austin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Prairie County
    • Hickory Plains
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Plains
      • Hickory Plains is located in Prairie County
  • Stone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Marcella
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marcella have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcella
      • Marcella is located in Stone County
    • Pleasant Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Stone County
  • Van Buren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Chalk ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chalk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk
      • Chalk is located in Van Buren County
    • Fairfield Bay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Woodruff County

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

Cemeteries Near Clay ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clay.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Clay had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Pangburn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Little Red
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Red have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Red
    • Little Red is located in White County
  • Hiram
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hiram have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiram
    • Hiram is located in Cleburne County
  • Clear Water ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clear Water have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Water
    • Clear Water is located in White County
  • Davenport ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Davenport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davenport
    • Davenport is located in White County
  • Bliss ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bliss have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss
    • Bliss is located in White County
  • Tyler ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tyler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
    • Tyler is located in Cleburne County
  • Searcy
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searcy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searcy
    • Searcy is located in White County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,543 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Searcy <1>
  • Judsonia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Judsonia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judsonia
    • Judsonia is located in White County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,992 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Judsonia <1>
  • Denmark
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denmark have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
    • Denmark is located in Jackson County
  • Turnip ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turnip have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnip
    • Turnip is located in White County
  • Kensett
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Bald Knob
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Plains
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
      • Pleasant Plains is located in Independence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 356 people
    • Yuba
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yuba. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuba
      • Yuba is located in Cleburne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yuba
      • From Clay to Yuba

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

Newspapers Published in Clay ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clay.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clay, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clay.

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 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 Clay:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Clay. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for White County: www.whitecountyar.org/

The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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- Clay) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Clay. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3968, Longitude: -91.7866       In this case, the coordinates for Clay have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Clay, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025