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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 Ocilla (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 Ocilla. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Ocilla is located in Irwin County and is the County Seat.

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 Irwin County: Ben Hill, Berrien, Coffee, Tift & Turner.

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

  • Irwin County     (The home county of Ocilla)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Mystic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Irwinville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Wray
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Arp
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Arp is located in Irwin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arp
  • Atkinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Willacoochee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Leliaton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Leliaton is located in Atkinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leliaton
  • Ben Hill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Fitzgerald
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Abba
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
  • Berrien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Enigma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Alapaha
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Nashville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Ambrose
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Broxton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Mora
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Mora is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
      • Estimated population in 2019: 444 people
    • Douglas
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Oak Park
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Oak Park is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
      • Estimated population in 2019: 470 people
    • West Green
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Lenox
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Staunton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Staunton is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staunton
  • Dodge County
    • Rhine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Telfair County
    • Jacksonville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Tift County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Brookfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Chula
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Abac
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Tifton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Phillipsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Phillipsburg is located in Tift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
    • Unionville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Unionville is located in Tift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Ty Ty
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Omega
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Turner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Rebecca
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sycamore
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Ashburn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Hobby
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Hobby is located in Turner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobby
      • Estimated population in 2019: 536 people
  • Wilcox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ocilla, with the one closest to Ocilla listed first.
    • Owensboro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Owensboro is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owensboro
    • Rochelle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Abbeville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Pitts
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Worth County
    • Sumner
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Ocilla ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ocilla.

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

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

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

  • Ocilla City Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Brushy Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Whitleys Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Frank Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Evertt Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Old Valley Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Paulk Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • New Valley Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Paulk Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Henderson Chapel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Holt Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (282 more) ...
    • Mc Cook Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mystic Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pinetta Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Irwinville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Lax
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lax is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lax
  • Abba
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
  • Enigma
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Brookfield
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Alapaha
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Sibbie
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Sibbie is located in Wilcox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibbie
  • China Hill
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • China Hill is located in Telfair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Hill
  • Temperance
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Temperance is located in Telfair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temperance
  • Broxton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Jacksonville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Douglas
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Lenox
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rochelle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Copeland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Copeland is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ocilla ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ocilla.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ocilla. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ocilla and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ocilla.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Ocilla.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Ocilla:

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 Ocilla, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ocilla) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.