Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Wards Mill. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Wards Mill to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Wards Mill, 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 Wards Mill (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 Wards Mill. 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.
Name Variations for Wards Mill ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Wards Mill: Wards Ml. (or less commonly used: Wards Mll.)
- While the name of this community is Wards Mill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<2>. So Wards Mill may originally have been Ward's Mill.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wards Mill might be written as Ward Mill.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Wards Mill. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wards Mill.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
Neighboring Parishes/Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes/counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southeast corner of their home parish. During their lives, most doctors were in the next parish to the east. 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/counties instead of the parish in which they lived: their home parish contained property and probate records; the parish to the east contained birth and death records; the parish to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes/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 Wards Mill is historic, it would have been located within present day Claiborne 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 Claiborne Parish: Columbia (AR), Union (AR), Bienville, Lincoln, Union & Webster.
Below are the parishes/counties that are near Wards Mill. For each of these parishes/counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wards Mill:
- Claiborne Parish (The home parish of Wards Mill)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Junction City
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Junction City is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 557 people
- Summerfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Summerfield is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
- Weldon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Weldon is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weldon
- Lisbon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Gordon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Gordon is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
- Arizona
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Arizona is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arizona
- Homer
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Sugar Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Sugar Creek is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
- Haynesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Athens
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Blackburn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Blackburn is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Dykesville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Dykesville is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dykesville
- Lincoln Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Hico
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Hico is located in Lincoln Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
- Vining Mills ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Vining Mills is located in Lincoln Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vining Mills
- Dubach
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Unionville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Unionville is located in Lincoln Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Vienna
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Vienna is located in Lincoln Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
- Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
- Cedarton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cedarton is located in Lincoln Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarton
- Union Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Lillie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Spearsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Pisgah
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pisgah is located in Union Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisgah
- Cane Ridge ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Cane Ridge is located in Union Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Ridge
- Bernice
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Truxno
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Truxno is located in Union Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truxno
- Oakland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Oakland is located in Union Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Farmerville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Marion
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Columbia County (AR)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Village is located in Columbia County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village
- Emerson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Emerson is located in Columbia County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
- Calhoun
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Calhoun is located in Columbia County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
- Ouachita County (AR)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Joyce City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Joyce City is located in Ouachita County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyce City
- Louann
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Louann is located in Ouachita County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louann
- Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
- Liberty
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Liberty is located in Ouachita County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Pace City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Pace City is located in Ouachita County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pace City
- Union County (AR)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Junction City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Junction City is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
- Scotland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Scotland is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
- Blanchard Springs ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Blanchard Springs is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchard Springs
- Dodge City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Dodge City is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
- El Dorado
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Dumas City
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Dumas City is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumas City
- Lisbon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Lisbon is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
- Lawson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lawson is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson
- Urbana
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Urbana is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbana
- Perdue City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Perdue City is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perdue City
- Strong
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Norphlet
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Norphlet is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norphlet
- Population from the 2020 Census: 772 people
- Crain City
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Crain City is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crain City
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wards Mill, see our Parish-by-Parish Page for Wards Mill.
Cemeteries Near Wards Mill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wards Mill.
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 Wards Mill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wards Mill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Taylor Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Fellowship Memorial Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Bethel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Community Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Graceland Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Roselawn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Brantley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Scotland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Union Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hard Shell Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Beech Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (316 more) ...
- Ebenezer Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Morgan - Wade Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wooley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
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.
Wards Mill itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Blanchard Springs ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Blanchard Springs is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchard Springs
- Cornie
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Cornie is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornie
- Caledonia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Caledonia is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
- Summerfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Summerfield is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
- Weldon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Weldon is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weldon
- Spearsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Wesson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Wesson is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesson
- Three Creeks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Three Creeks is located in Union County (AR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Creeks
- Cane Ridge ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Cane Ridge is located in Union Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Ridge
- Antioch
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Antioch is located in Claiborne Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
- Clayton ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Clayton is located in Union Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Lisbon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Shiloh
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Shiloh is located in Union Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Cherry Ridge ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Cherry Ridge is located in Union Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Ridge
- Hico
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Hico is located in Lincoln Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wards Mill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wards Mill.
Newspapers Published in Wards Mill ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wards Mill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wards Mill, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wards Mill.
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 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 Wards Mill:
- Websites specific to Louisiana
- Pages specific to Claiborne Parish
- Genealogy information for nearby parishes
- Lincoln Parish
- Union Parish
- Columbia County
- Ouachita County
- Union County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Louisiana
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 Wards Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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- Wards Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |