RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Union County >> Lawson >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Lawson (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 Lawson. 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/Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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/parishes 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/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Lawson is located in Union County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Union County: Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Columbia, Ouachita, Claiborne (LA), Morehouse (LA) & Union (LA).

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

  • Union County     (The home county of Lawson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawson, with the one closest to Lawson listed first.
    • Urbana
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Urbana is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbana
    • Perdue City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Perdue City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perdue City
    • Crain City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Crain City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crain City
    • Calion
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Calion is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calion
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 440 people
    • Strong
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • El Dorado
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Norphlet
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Norphlet is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norphlet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 772 people
    • Lapile
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sandy Land
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Blanchard Springs ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bolding
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Dumas City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Dumas City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumas City
    • Junction City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Junction City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
  • Ashley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawson, with the one closest to Lawson listed first.
    • West Crossett
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • West Crossett is located in Ashley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Crossett
    • Crossett
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Bradley County
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawson, with the one closest to Lawson listed first.
    • Harrell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Harrell is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
    • Hampton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Tinsman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Tinsman is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tinsman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42 people
  • Ouachita County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawson, with the one closest to Lawson listed first.
    • Joyce City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Joyce City is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyce City
    • Louann
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pace City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Pace City is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pace City
    • Cullendale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Claiborne Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawson, with the one closest to Lawson listed first.
    • Junction City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Junction City is located in Claiborne Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 557 people
    • Wards Mill ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Wards Mill is located in Claiborne Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wards Mill
    • Weldon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Summerfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Union Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawson, with the one closest to Lawson listed first.
    • Oakland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Truxno
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Spearsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Lillie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lillie is located in Union Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lillie <1>
    • Pisgah
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Marion
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Bernice
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Farmerville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Cane Ridge ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Cane Ridge is located in Union Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Ridge

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

Cemeteries Near Lawson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lawson.

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

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

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

  • Rhodes Chapel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Urbana Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cathey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Philadelphia Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Beulah Springs Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Union Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Free Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Meek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Suggs Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (251 more) ...
    • Craig Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hillsboro Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Center Point Cemetery
      (5 miles [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.<2>

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

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

  • Hillsboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hillsboro is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro
  • Champagnolle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Champagnolle is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champagnolle
  • New London
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • New London is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
  • Moro Bay
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • El Dorado
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Caledonia
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Caledonia is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
  • Lapile
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Blanchard Springs ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Oakland
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Cornie
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cornie is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornie
  • Wesson
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Wesson is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesson
  • Marsden
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Marsden is located in Bradley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsden
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Little Bay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Little Bay is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Bay
    • Jersey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Spearsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Lawson ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lawson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lawson, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lawson.

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 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 Lawson:

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 Lawson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lawson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.