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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Smiley. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Smiley to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Smiley, please Contact Us.

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 Smiley (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 Smiley. 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 and 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Smiley is historic, it would have been located within present day Long 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 Long County: Liberty, McIntosh, Tattnall & Wayne.

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

  • Long County     (The home county of Smiley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiley, with the one closest to Smiley listed first.
    • Donald
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Donald is located in Long County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donald
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,466 people
    • Ludowici
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Appling County
    • Surrency
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bryan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiley, with the one closest to Smiley listed first.
    • Pembroke
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Ellabell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Richmond Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Bulloch County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiley, with the one closest to Smiley listed first.
    • Statesborough
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Statesborough is located in Bulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Statesborough
      • Estimated population in 2019: 32,954 people
    • New Hope
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • New Hope is located in Bulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
  • Effingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiley, with the one closest to Smiley listed first.
    • Meldrim
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Eden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Evans County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiley, with the one closest to Smiley listed first.
    • Daisy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Claxton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Hagan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Bellville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Liberty County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiley, with the one closest to Smiley listed first.
    • Gum Branch
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Gum Branch is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Branch
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 269 people
    • Fort Stewart
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Bryan Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Bryan Village is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan Village
    • Hinesville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Pineview
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Pineview is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineview
      • Estimated population in 2019: 489 people
    • Garden Acres
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Garden Acres is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Acres
      • Estimated population in 2019: 8,713 people
    • Martin Woods
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Martin Woods is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Woods
      • Estimated population in 2019: 383 people
    • Tupelo Trail
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Tupelo Trail is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tupelo Trail
      • Estimated population in 2019: 347 people
    • Cherokee Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Cherokee Village is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Village
    • Doe Run Estates
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Doe Run Estates is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Run Estates
      • Estimated population in 2019: 736 people
    • Flemington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Trinity
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Trinity is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,893 people
    • Allenhurst
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • McIntosh County
  • Tattnall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiley, with the one closest to Smiley listed first.
    • Glennville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Midway
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Midway is located in Tattnall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
      • Estimated population in 2019: 657 people
    • Mendes
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Mendes is located in Tattnall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendes
      • Estimated population in 2019: 456 people
    • Manassas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Reidsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Collins
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Toombs County
    • Ohoopee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Ohoopee is located in Toombs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohoopee
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smiley, with the one closest to Smiley listed first.
    • Madray Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Madray Springs is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madray Springs
    • Doctortown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Doctortown is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctortown
    • Jesup
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Odum
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pendarvis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Pendarvis is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pendarvis
      • Estimated population in 2019: 562 people

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

Cemeteries Near Smiley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smiley.

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

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

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

  • Poplar Head Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Gaps of the Bays Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Smith Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Zion Travel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Glennville City Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • DeLoach Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Old Halltown Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Halltown Cemetery
    • The Old Halltown Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hall Town Cemetery
  • Ebenezer FWB Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Todd - Ray Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (199 more) ...
    • Sand Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Glennville Memorial Gardens
      (7 miles [11.3 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.

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

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

  • Gum Branch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Gum Branch is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Branch
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 269 people
  • Birdford ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Birdford is located in Tattnall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdford
  • Glennville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Taylors Creek ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Taylors Creek is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylors Creek
  • Hinesville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Tison
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Tison is located in Tattnall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tison
  • Walthourville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Flemington
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • McIntosh
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • McIntosh is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
  • Doctortown
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Doctortown is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctortown
  • Pembroke
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Odum
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Jesup
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Statesborough
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Statesborough is located in Bulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Statesborough
      • Estimated population in 2019: 32,954 people
    • Manassas
      (21 miles [33.8 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 Smiley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Smiley.

Newspapers Published in Smiley ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smiley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smiley, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smiley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Smiley:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Smiley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smiley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.