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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 Brooker (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 Brooker. 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 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.

Brooker is located in Jeff Davis County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Jeff Davis County: Appling, Bacon, Coffee, Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs & Wheeler.

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

  • Jeff Davis County     (The home county of Brooker)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooker, with the one closest to Brooker listed first.
    • Denton
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Kirkland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Kirkland is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
    • Quinn ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Quinn is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinn
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,652 people
    • Hazlehurst
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lumber City Ferry
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Lumber City Ferry is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber City Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,257 people
    • Tallahassee
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Tallahassee is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallahassee
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,185 people
  • Appling County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooker, with the one closest to Brooker listed first.
    • Graham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Graham is located in Appling County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
    • Phillipi
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Phillipi is located in Appling County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipi
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 707 people
    • Baxley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Surrency
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Bacon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooker, with the one closest to Brooker listed first.
    • Guysie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Guysie is located in Bacon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guysie
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,226 people
    • Alma
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Alma is located in Bacon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,336 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <1>
    • Coffee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Coffee is located in Bacon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooker, with the one closest to Brooker listed first.
    • West Green
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Broxton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Nicholls
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Oak Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Park is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
      • Estimated population in 2019: 470 people
    • Douglas
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Ambrose
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mora
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Mora is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
      • Estimated population in 2019: 444 people
  • Irwin County
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooker, with the one closest to Brooker listed first.
    • Uvalda
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Alston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Vernon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Petross
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Petross is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petross
  • Telfair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooker, with the one closest to Brooker listed first.
    • Lumber City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jacksonville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Scotland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • McRae - Helena
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • McRae
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • McRae is located in Telfair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McRae
    • Helena
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Milan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Toombs County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooker, with the one closest to Brooker listed first.
    • Cedar Crossing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cedar Crossing is located in Toombs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crossing
    • Rock Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Rock Springs is located in Toombs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
    • Toombs Central
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Toombs Central is located in Toombs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toombs Central
      • Estimated population in 2019: 486 people
  • Ware County
    • Talmo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Talmo is located in Ware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talmo
  • Wheeler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooker, with the one closest to Brooker listed first.
    • Alamo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Alamo is located in Wheeler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,301 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alamo <1>
    • Glenwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Ochwalkee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Ochwalkee is located in Wheeler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ochwalkee
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,732 people

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

Cemeteries Near Brooker ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brooker.

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

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

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

  • Denton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Hinson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Hinson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Simmons Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Philadelphia Baptist Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Burkett Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Wilcox Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Yawn Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Harris & McDew Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Mims Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (311 more) ...

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 Brooker in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brooker.

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

  • Johnsonville ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Johnsonville is located in Appling County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonville
  • Graham
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Graham is located in Appling County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
  • Lumber City
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Broxton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Pine Grove
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Pine Grove is located in Appling County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
  • Nicholls
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Prentiss
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Prentiss is located in Appling County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prentiss
  • Jacksonville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Towns
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Towns is located in Telfair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towns
  • Douglas
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Baxley
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Cobbville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cobbville is located in Telfair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbville
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Scotland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Beach is located in Ware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach
    • Wheaton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Wheaton is located in Appling County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheaton

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

Newspapers Published in Brooker ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brooker.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brooker, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brooker.

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 Brooker:

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 Brooker, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Brooker) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.