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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 Wray (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 Wray. 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 and doctors 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.

Wray is located in Irwin 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 Irwin County: Ben Hill, Berrien, Coffee, Tift & Turner.

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

  • Irwin County     (The home county of Wray)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wray, with the one closest to Wray listed first.
    • Ocilla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocilla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>
    • Mystic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mystic have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>
    • Irwinville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwinville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>
    • Arp
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arp
      • Arp is located in Irwin County
  • Atkinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wray, with the one closest to Wray listed first.
    • Willacoochee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willacoochee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willacoochee
      • Willacoochee is located in Atkinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,389 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willacoochee <2>
    • Leliaton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leliaton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leliaton
      • Leliaton is located in Atkinson County
    • Pearson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Axson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Ben Hill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wray, with the one closest to Wray listed first.
    • Fitzgerald
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Abba
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
      • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
  • Berrien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wray, with the one closest to Wray listed first.
    • Alapaha
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Enigma
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Nashville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
      • Nashville is located in Berrien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,811 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashville <2>
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wray, with the one closest to Wray listed first.
    • Ambrose
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Broxton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Douglas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Mora
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
      • Mora is located in Coffee County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 444 people
    • Oak Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
      • Oak Park is located in Coffee County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 470 people
    • West Green
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Green have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Green
      • West Green is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Green <2>
    • Nicholls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Dodge County
    • Rhine
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>
  • Jeff Davis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wray, with the one closest to Wray listed first.
    • Kirkland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kirkland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
      • Kirkland is located in Jeff Davis County
    • Denton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Lumber City Ferry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumber City Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber City Ferry
      • Lumber City Ferry is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,257 people
  • Telfair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wray, with the one closest to Wray listed first.
    • Jacksonville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Milan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>
    • Lumber City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumber City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber City
      • Lumber City is located in Telfair County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,251 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lumber City <2>
  • Tift County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wray, with the one closest to Wray listed first.
    • Brookfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Tifton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Unionville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
      • Unionville is located in Tift County
    • Abac
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Chula
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Phillipsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phillipsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
      • Phillipsburg is located in Tift County
  • Turner County
    • Rebecca
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Wilcox County
    • Abbeville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Wray ...

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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wray.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wray, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wray.

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 Wray:

Cemeteries Near Wray ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wray.

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

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

  • Smith Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hope Cemetery
  • Harper Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harper Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harper Cemetery
  • Osierfield Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Osierfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Osierfield Cemetery
  • McMillan Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McMillan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McMillan Cemetery
  • Holt Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holt Cemetery
  • Satilla Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Satilla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Satilla Cemetery
  • Paulk Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Paulk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Paulk Cemetery
  • Mt. Union Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Union Cemetery
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethany Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethany Cemetery
  • Tucker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tucker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tucker Cemetery
  • De Berry Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the De Berry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the De Berry Cemetery
  • Continue List   (270 more) ...
    • Pleasant Grove Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    • Paulk Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Paulk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Paulk Cemetery
    • Henderson Chapel Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Henderson Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henderson Chapel 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.<4>

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

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

  • Broxton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Lax
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lax have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lax
    • Lax is located in Coffee County
  • Jacksonville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Douglas
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • China Hill
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for China Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Hill
    • China Hill is located in Telfair County
  • Alapaha
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Temperance
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Temperance have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temperance
    • Temperance is located in Telfair County
  • Irwinville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwinville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>
  • Cobbville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cobbville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbville
    • Cobbville is located in Telfair County
  • Abba
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
    • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
  • Enigma
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Sibbie
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sibbie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibbie
    • Sibbie is located in Wilcox County
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Brookfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Nicholls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Rhine
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>

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

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Wray) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6223, Longitude: -83.0563    
<4>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 Wray, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024