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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 Bowens Mill (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 Bowens Mill. 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 Bowens Mill ...

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 have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Bowens Mill: Bowens Ml. (or less commonly used: Bowens Mll.)
  • While the name of this community is Bowens Mill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Bowens Mill may originally have been Bowen's Mill.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Bowens Mill might be written as Bown Mill.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Bowens Mill is located in Ben Hill County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Ben Hill County: Coffee, Irwin, Telfair, Turner & Wilcox.

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

  • Ben Hill County     (The home county of Bowens Mill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowens Mill, with the one closest to Bowens Mill listed first.
    • Fitzgerald
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Abba
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
      • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
  • Berrien County
    • Enigma
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowens Mill, with the one closest to Bowens Mill listed first.
    • Ambrose
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Broxton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Crisp County
    • McKenzie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McKenzie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKenzie
      • McKenzie is located in Crisp County
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowens Mill, with the one closest to Bowens Mill listed first.
    • Rhine
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhine
      • Rhine is located in Dodge County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rhine <2>
    • Chauncey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Eastman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Irwin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowens Mill, with the one closest to Bowens Mill listed first.
    • Arp
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arp
      • Arp is located in Irwin County
    • Ocilla
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocilla have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocilla
      • Ocilla is located in Irwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,722 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ocilla <2>
    • Irwinville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwinville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwinville
      • Irwinville is located in Irwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwinville <2>
    • Mystic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mystic have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
      • Mystic is located in Irwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mystic <2>
    • Wray
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Jeff Davis County
    • Kirkland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kirkland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
      • Kirkland is located in Jeff Davis County
  • Telfair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowens Mill, with the one closest to Bowens Mill listed first.
    • Jacksonville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Milan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
      • Milan is located in Telfair County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 649 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <2>
    • Helena
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • McRae - Helena
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • McRae
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McRae
      • McRae is located in Telfair County
    • Scotland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
      • Scotland is located in Telfair County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scotland <2>
  • Tift County
  • Turner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowens Mill, with the one closest to Bowens Mill listed first.
    • Rebecca
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Sycamore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Ashburn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Wilcox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowens Mill, with the one closest to Bowens Mill listed first.
    • Abbeville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rochelle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochelle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
      • Rochelle is located in Wilcox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochelle <2>
    • Pitts
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Seville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seville
      • Seville is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seville <2>
    • Pineview
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Bowens Mill ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bowens Mill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bowens Mill, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bowens Mill.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Bowens Mill:

Cemeteries Near Bowens Mill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bowens Mill.

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 Bowens Mill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Dixon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dixon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dixon Cemetery
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
  • Tanner Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tanner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tanner Cemetery
  • Wilcox - Reid Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilcox - Reid Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilcox - Reid Cemetery
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
  • Tomberlin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tomberlin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tomberlin Cemetery
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Cemetery
  • Dorminy Mill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dorminy Mill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dorminy Mill Cemetery
  • Sharon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sharon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sharon Cemetery
  • Reid Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reid Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reid Cemetery
  • Mims Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mims Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mims Cemetery
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
  • Continue List   (295 more) ...
    • Penn Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Penn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Penn Cemetery
    • Union Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Vaughn Tabernacle Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vaughn Tabernacle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vaughn Tabernacle Cemetery

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.<5>

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

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

  • Temperance
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Temperance have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temperance
    • Temperance is located in Telfair County
  • Sibbie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sibbie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibbie
    • Sibbie is located in Wilcox County
  • China Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for China Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Hill
    • China Hill is located in Telfair County
  • Rhine
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhine
    • Rhine is located in Dodge County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rhine <2>
  • Copeland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copeland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
    • Copeland is located in Dodge County
  • Abba
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
    • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
  • Abbeville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jacksonville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Cobbville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cobbville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbville
    • Cobbville is located in Telfair County
  • Milan
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
    • Milan is located in Telfair County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 649 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <2>
  • Irwinville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwinville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwinville
    • Irwinville is located in Irwin County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwinville <2>
  • Rochelle
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochelle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
    • Rochelle is located in Wilcox County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochelle <2>
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Chauncey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Godwinsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Godwinsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Godwinsville
      • Godwinsville is located in Dodge County
    • Pitts
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)

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

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

The official website for Ben Hill County: www.benhillcounty.com/

The official website for State of Georgia: https://georgia.gov/

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 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.
<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- Bowens Mill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bowens Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.8427, Longitude: -83.2093       In this case, the coordinates for Bowens Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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 Bowens Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024