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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 Dills (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 Dills. 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 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.

Dills is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Leon, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla, Brooks (GA) & Thomas (GA).

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

  • Jefferson County     (The home county of Dills)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dills, with the one closest to Dills listed first.
    • Monticello
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Aucilla
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Aucilla is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucilla
    • Lamont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Lloyd
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Waukeenah
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Thomas City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Thomas City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas City
    • Wacissa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Leon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dills, with the one closest to Dills listed first.
    • Miccosukee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Capitola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Capitola is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitola
    • Iamonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Iamonia is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iamonia
    • Bradfordville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Bradfordville is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradfordville
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dills, with the one closest to Dills listed first.
    • Greenville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hamburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Hamburg is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
    • Cherry Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Cherry Lake is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Lake
    • Madison
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Pinetta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Leland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Leland is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
  • Taylor County
  • Brooks County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dills, with the one closest to Dills listed first.
    • Empress
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Empress is located in Brooks County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empress
    • Dixie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Quitman
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Quitman is located in Brooks County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quitman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,625 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Quitman <1>
    • Barwick
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Fodie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Fodie is located in Brooks County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fodie
      • Estimated population in 2019: 5,037 people
    • McIntyre Spring ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • McIntyre Spring is located in Brooks County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntyre Spring
      • Estimated population in 2019: 605 people
    • Tallokas ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Tallokas is located in Brooks County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallokas
      • Estimated population in 2019: 171 people
    • Morven
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Morven is located in Brooks County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 544 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morven <1>
    • Barney
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Grady County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dills, with the one closest to Dills listed first.
    • Midway
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Midway is located in Grady County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
    • Good Hope ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Good Hope is located in Grady County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Hope
      • Estimated population in 2019: 300 people
  • Lowndes County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dills, with the one closest to Dills listed first.
    • Clyattville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Shiloh
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Shiloh is located in Lowndes County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
  • Thomas County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dills, with the one closest to Dills listed first.
    • Boston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Boston is located in Thomas County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,313 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boston <1>
    • Newark
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Newark is located in Thomas County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark
      • Estimated population in 2019: 783 people
    • Thomasville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Dewey City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Dewey City is located in Thomas County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey City
    • Fredonia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Fredonia is located in Thomas County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
    • Pavo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Pavo is located in Thomas County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 602 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pavo <1>
    • Coolidge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Ochlocknee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Dills ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dills.

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

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

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

  • Laffittee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Zion Cemetery
    • The Mt. Zion Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mt. Zion AME Church Cemetery
  • Milton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Little Flock Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Browns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Bellamy Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • St. Philip Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Grooverville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Texas Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mallette Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Roseland Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Sneeds Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (247 more) ...
    • Kinsey Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Elizabeth Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • AME Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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.<2>

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

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

  • Aucilla ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Aucilla is located in Thomas County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucilla
  • Monticello
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Aucilla
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Aucilla is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucilla
  • Boston
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Boston is located in Thomas County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,313 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boston <1>
  • Dixie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Greenville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Metcalf
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Metcalf is located in Thomas County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metcalf
  • Hamburg
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Hamburg is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
  • Quitman
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Quitman is located in Brooks County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quitman
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,625 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Quitman <1>
  • Miccosukee
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Lloyd
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Lamont
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Waukeenah
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Nankin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Nankin is located in Brooks County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nankin
    • Thomasville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Dills ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dills.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dills, 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 Dills.

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 helpful 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 Dills:

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