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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 Bessent (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 Bessent. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Bessent is located in Baker County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Baker County: Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Nassau, Union, Charlton (GA), Clinch (GA) & Ware (GA).

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

  • Baker County     (The home county of Bessent)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bessent, with the one closest to Bessent listed first.
    • MacClenny
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Glen Saint Mary
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Sanderson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Taylor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Taylor is located in Baker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
    • Olustee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Alachua County
    • Waldo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Bradford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bessent, with the one closest to Bessent listed first.
    • Lawtey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Starke
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Hampton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Graham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Brooker
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bessent, with the one closest to Bessent listed first.
    • Kingsley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kingsley is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
    • Kingsley Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Kingsley Lake is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley Lake
    • Kingsley Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Kingsley Village is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley Village
    • Middleburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Doctors Inlet
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Lakeside
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Lakeside is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
    • Asbury Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Asbury Lake is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury Lake
    • Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Orange Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Penney Farms
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Keystone Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Green Cove Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bessent, with the one closest to Bessent listed first.
    • Lulu
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • McColskey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • McColskey is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McColskey
    • Watertown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Watertown is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
  • Duval County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bessent, with the one closest to Bessent listed first.
    • Maxville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Maxville is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxville
    • Baldwin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jacksonville Heights
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jacksonville Heights is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville Heights
    • Normandy Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Magnolia Gardens
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Magnolia Gardens is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Gardens
    • Brooklyn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Brooklyn is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Jacksonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Mandarin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Mandarin is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandarin
    • Biscayne Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Biscayne Village is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biscayne Village
    • San Marco
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • San Marco is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Marco
    • Bowden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Bowden is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowden
    • Loretto
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Loretto is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
    • Garden City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Garden City is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bessent, with the one closest to Bessent listed first.
    • Bryceville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Crawford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Crawford is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford
    • Callahan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Nassau Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Nassau Village is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nassau Village
  • Saint Johns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bessent, with the one closest to Bessent listed first.
    • Fruit Cove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Saint Johns
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bessent, with the one closest to Bessent listed first.
    • Raiford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Butler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Worthington Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Charlton County (GA)

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

Cemeteries Near Bessent ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bessent.

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

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

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

  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Mantown Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedonia Cemetery
    • The Macedonia Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Macedonia Independent Methodist Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #187891 <2>
  • Sanderson Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • South Prong Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Long Branch Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedar Creek Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Lawtey Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Deese Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Manning Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Prison Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (117 more) ...
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Whitker Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Motes Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 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 Bessent in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bessent.

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

  • Glen Saint Mary
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • MacClenny
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Maxville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Maxville is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxville
  • Highland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Highland is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Sanderson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Baldwin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Lawtey
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Bryceville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Kingsley
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kingsley is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
  • Middleburg
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Olustee
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Lake Butler
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Starke
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • New River
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • New River is located in Bradford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New River
    • Marietta
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Marietta is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta

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

Newspapers Published in Bessent ...

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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bessent.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bessent, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bessent.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Bessent:

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 Bessent, 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' (or 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- Bessent) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.