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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 Clay (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 Clay. 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 Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home parish. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next parish to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring parishes instead of the parish in which they lived:  their home parish contained property and probate records; the parish to the west contained birth and death records; the parish to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Clay is located in Jackson Parish.

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

The following parishes adjoin and form the boundaries of Jackson Parish: Bienville, Caldwell, Lincoln, Ouachita & Winn.

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

  • Jackson Parish     (The home parish of Clay)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Ansley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Ansley is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ansley
    • Quitman
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • East Hodge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • East Hodge is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hodge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
    • North Hodge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • North Hodge is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hodge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
    • Hodge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Cartwright
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Cartwright is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartwright
    • Jonesboro
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Weston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Weston is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
    • Dalley ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Dalley is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalley
    • Nash ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Nash is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash
    • Eros
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Eros is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eros
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eros <1>
    • Chatham
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Zoar
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Zoar is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zoar
  • Bienville Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • English
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • English is located in Bienville Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
    • Liberty Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Liberty Hill is located in Bienville Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
    • Arcadia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bienville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Bryceland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Bryceland is located in Bienville Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryceland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Mount Lebanon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Mount Lebanon is located in Bienville Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Lebanon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
    • Lucky
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Lucky is located in Bienville Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucky
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
    • Gibsland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Sparta
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Sparta is located in Bienville Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
    • Burkplace
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Burkplace is located in Bienville Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burkplace
    • Saline
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Taylor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Caldwell Parish
    • Vixen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Vixen is located in Caldwell Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vixen
  • Claiborne Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Sugar Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sugar Creek is located in Claiborne Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
    • Athens
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Darley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Darley is located in Claiborne Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darley
    • Lisbon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Weldon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Weldon is located in Claiborne Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weldon
    • Arizona
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Arizona is located in Claiborne Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arizona
  • Lincoln Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Grambling
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Ruston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Simsboro
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Choudrant
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Vienna
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Vienna is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
    • Averit ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Averit is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averit
    • Sibley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sibley is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibley
    • Unionville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Unionville is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Cedarton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Cedarton is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarton
    • Dubach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Vining Mills ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Vining Mills is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining Mills
    • Hico
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Hico is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
  • Ouachita Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Indian Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Indian Village is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Frost Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Frost Town is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost Town
    • Calhoun
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Eureka
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Eureka is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
    • Forksville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Forksville is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forksville
    • Lapine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Lapine is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapine
    • Claiborne
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Claiborne is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claiborne
  • Union Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Downsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Bernice
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Cane Ridge ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Cane Ridge is located in Union Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Ridge
    • Wilhite
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Wilhite is located in Union Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilhite
    • Farmerville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pisgah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Pisgah is located in Union Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisgah
  • Winn Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clay, with the one closest to Clay listed first.
    • Gansville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Gansville is located in Winn Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gansville
    • Dodson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Pine Ridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Winn Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Sikes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hudson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Hudson is located in Winn Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
    • Bethlehem
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Bethlehem is located in Winn Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethlehem
    • Newport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Newport is located in Winn Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport

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

Cemeteries Near Clay ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clay.

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

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

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

  • New Prosperity Baptist Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Wesley Chapel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Ansley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Prospect Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Brooks Chapel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Riser Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Watts Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Fellowship Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Gullat Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (201 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.<2>

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

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

  • Vernon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Vernon is located in Jackson Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
  • Ruston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Simsboro
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Hebron
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Hebron is located in Jackson Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Choudrant
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sumpter ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sumpter is located in Lincoln Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumpter
  • Vienna
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Vienna is located in Lincoln Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
  • Weston
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Weston is located in Jackson Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
  • Dalley ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Dalley is located in Jackson Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalley
  • Douglas
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Douglas is located in Lincoln Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
  • Liberty Hill
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Liberty Hill is located in Bienville Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
  • Nash ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Nash is located in Jackson Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Knowles ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Knowles is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
    • Indian Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Indian Village is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Averit ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Averit is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averit

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

Newspapers Published in Clay ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clay.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clay, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clay.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Clay:

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 Clay, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Clay) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.