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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 Gray (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 Gray. 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.

Gray is located in Knox County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Knox County: Bell, Clay, Laurel & Whitley.

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

  • Knox County     (The home county of Gray)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gray, with the one closest to Gray listed first.
    • North Corbin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • North Corbin is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Corbin
    • Crane Nest
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Cannon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Cannon is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
    • Girdler
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Barbourville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Heidrick
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hinkle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Hinkle is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkle
    • Bimble
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Woollum
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Woollum is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woollum
    • Artemus
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Artemus is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artemus
    • Bryants Store
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Trosper
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Trosper is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trosper
  • Bell County
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gray, with the one closest to Gray listed first.
    • Hima
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Urban
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Larue
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Garrard
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Garrard is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrard
    • Brightshade
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Fogertown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Goose Rock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Goose Rock is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Rock
    • Manchester
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Sidell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Benge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Benge is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benge
    • Fall Rock
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Fall Rock is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Rock
    • Ashers Fork
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Harlan County
    • Tacky Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Tacky Town is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacky Town
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gray, with the one closest to Gray listed first.
    • Peoples
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Peoples is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoples
    • Annville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Dabolt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Dabolt is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dabolt
    • Tyner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Tyner is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyner
  • Laurel County
  • Leslie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gray, with the one closest to Gray listed first.
    • Roark
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Bear Branch
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Bear Branch is located in Leslie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Branch
    • Warbranch
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Warbranch is located in Leslie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warbranch
  • McCreary County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gray, with the one closest to Gray listed first.
    • Greenwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Wiborg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Marshes Siding
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Marshes Siding is located in McCreary County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshes Siding
    • Whitley City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Pulaski County
  • Rockcastle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gray, with the one closest to Gray listed first.
    • Livingston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hansford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mullins
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Mullins is located in Rockcastle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullins
  • Whitley County
  • Campbell County (TN)
  • Claiborne County (TN)

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

Cemeteries Near Gray ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gray.

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

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Gray had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Emanuel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Emanuel is located in Knox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emanuel
  • Fletcher
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fletcher is located in Laurel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
  • Corbin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Woodbine
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Tuttle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Tuttle is located in Laurel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuttle
  • Lily
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Crane Nest
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Barbourville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Girdler
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Cane Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cane Creek is located in Laurel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
  • Rockholds
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Fariston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Fariston is located in Laurel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fariston
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Keavy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Artemus
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Artemus is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artemus
    • Vox
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Vox is located in Laurel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vox

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

Newspapers Published in Gray ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gray.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gray, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gray.

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 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 Gray:

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