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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

We've added Wises to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Wises, 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 Wises (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 Wises. 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 northwest corner of their home parish. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next parish to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the north.

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 north 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Wises is historic, it would have been located within present day Rapides Parish.

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

The following parishes adjoin and form the boundaries of Rapides Parish: Allen, Avoyelles, Evangeline, Grant, La Salle, Natchitoches & Vernon.

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

  • Rapides Parish     (The home parish of Wises)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wises, with the one closest to Wises listed first.
    • Kolin
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Whittington
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Whittington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittington
      • Whittington is located in Rapides Parish
    • Moreland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
      • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
    • Ruby
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruby have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
      • Ruby is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruby <2>
    • Anandale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anandale
      • Anandale is located in Rapides Parish
    • Alexandria Junction
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexandria Junction
      • Alexandria Junction is located in Rapides Parish
    • Libuse
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Libuse have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libuse
      • Libuse is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Libuse <2>
    • Alexandria
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Pineville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lecompte
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lecompte have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lecompte
      • Lecompte is located in Rapides Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,151 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lecompte <2>
    • Echo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodworth
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Allen Parish
    • Pawnee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pawnee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
      • Pawnee is located in Allen Parish
  • Avoyelles Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wises, with the one closest to Wises listed first.
    • Center Point
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
      • Center Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Point <2>
    • Effie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • North Point
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point
      • North Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Egg Bend
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Egg Bend. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
      • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Moncla
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moncla
      • Moncla is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Vick
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vick
      • Vick is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Hessmer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hessmer have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessmer
      • Hessmer is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hessmer <2>
    • Marksville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marksville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
      • Marksville is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,271 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marksville <2>
    • Bunkie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunkie
      • Bunkie is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,826 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bunkie <2>
    • Mansura
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Enterprise
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
      • Enterprise is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Eola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
      • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
  • Concordia Parish
    • Acme
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Acme have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
      • Acme is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Acme <2>
  • Evangeline Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wises, with the one closest to Wises listed first.
    • Turkey Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Creek
      • Turkey Creek is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 464 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turkey Creek <2>
    • Saint Landry
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Landry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Landry
      • Saint Landry is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Landry <2>
    • Bayou Chicot
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Chicot
      • Bayou Chicot is located in Evangeline Parish
  • Grant Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wises, with the one closest to Wises listed first.
    • Creola
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creola have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creola
      • Creola is located in Grant Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Creola has also been known as:
      • Creola village
    • Stay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
      • Stay is located in Grant Parish
    • Fishville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fishville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
      • Fishville is located in Grant Parish
    • Pollock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Bentley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Antonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antonia
      • Antonia is located in Grant Parish
    • Fairmount
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fairmount. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
      • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
    • Dry Prong
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dry Prong have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Prong
      • Dry Prong is located in Grant Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dry Prong <2>
    • Colfax
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • La Salle Parish
    • Sharp Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharp Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Town
      • Sharp Town is located in La Salle Parish
  • Vernon Parish
    • Leander
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Leander. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander
      • Leander is located in Vernon Parish

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

Cemeteries Near Wises ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wises.

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

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

  • Peart Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wise Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wise Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wise Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Figgins Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Figgins Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Figgins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Czech National Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Czech National Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Czech National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wise Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wise Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wise Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Campbell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campbell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campbell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Craig Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Craig Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Craig Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pierce Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierce Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunlight Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Garden of Memories Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garden of Memories Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garden of Memories Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hopewell Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hopewell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hopewell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hooper Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hooper Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hooper Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (190 more) ...
    • Libuse Czech Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Libuse Czech Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Libuse Czech Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Holly Oak Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holly Oak Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holly Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Wises in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wises.

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

  • Moreland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
    • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
  • Poland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poland
    • Poland is located in Rapides Parish
  • Lamourie
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lamourie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamourie
    • Lamourie is located in Rapides Parish
  • Pineville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Alexandria
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Lecompte
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lecompte have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lecompte
    • Lecompte is located in Rapides Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,151 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lecompte <2>
  • Egg Bend
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Egg Bend. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
    • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
  • Holloway
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holloway have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway
    • Holloway is located in Rapides Parish
  • Loyd
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Loyd. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
    • Loyd is located in Rapides Parish
  • Weil
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Weil. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weil
    • Weil is located in Rapides Parish
  • Cheneyville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cheneyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheneyville
    • Cheneyville is located in Rapides Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cheneyville <2>
  • Rapides
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rapides have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapides
    • Rapides is located in Rapides Parish
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Marksville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marksville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
      • Marksville is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,271 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marksville <2>
    • Melder
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melder have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melder
      • Melder is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melder <2>
    • Fishville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fishville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
      • Fishville is located in Grant Parish

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

Newspapers Published in Wises ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wises.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wises, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wises.

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 Wises:

The official website for Rapides Parish: www.rppj.com/

The official website for State of Louisiana: https://www.louisiana.gov/

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 Wises, 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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wises) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wises. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.2341, Longitude: -92.3418       In this case, the coordinates for Wises have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025