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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

We've added Bear Creek to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Bear Creek, 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 Bear Creek (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 Bear Creek. 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 Bear Creek ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Bear Creek: Bear Crk. (or less commonly used: Bear Ck. or Bear Cr.)

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 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Bear Creek is historic, it would have been located within present day Attala County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Attala County: Carroll, Choctaw, Holmes, Leake, Madison, Montgomery, Neshoba, Winston & Yazoo.

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

  • Attala County     (The home county of Bear Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • McCool
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCool
      • McCool is located in Attala County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Ethel
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
      • Ethel is located in Attala County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
    • Kosciusko
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Hesterville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hesterville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesterville
      • Hesterville is located in Attala County
    • Possumneck
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possumneck
      • Possumneck is located in Attala County
    • Sallis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sallis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sallis
      • Sallis is located in Attala County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sallis <2>
    • Zemuly
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zemuly have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zemuly
      • Zemuly is located in Attala County
  • Carroll County
    • Vaiden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vaiden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaiden
      • Vaiden is located in Carroll County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 931 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vaiden <2>
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Weir
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weir have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weir
      • Weir is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weir <2>
    • French Camp
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for French Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Camp
      • French Camp is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for French Camp <2>
    • Bankston ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bankston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bankston
      • Bankston is located in Choctaw County
    • Ackerman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Williams
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams
      • Williams is located in Choctaw County
    • Reform
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reform have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reform
      • Reform is located in Choctaw County
  • Holmes County
    • West
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Kilmichael
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilmichael
      • Kilmichael is located in Montgomery County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
    • Winona
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
      • Winona is located in Montgomery County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,830 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winona <2>
    • Sweatman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweatman
      • Sweatman is located in Montgomery County
  • Oktibbeha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Sturgis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sturgis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgis
      • Sturgis is located in Oktibbeha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sturgis <2>
    • Bradley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
      • Bradley is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Double Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Double Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Springs
      • Double Springs is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Maben
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maben have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maben
      • Maben is located in Oktibbeha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 817 people
    • Longview
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
      • Longview is located in Oktibbeha County
    • Adaton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adaton
      • Adaton is located in Oktibbeha County
  • Webster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Eupora
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eupora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eupora
      • Eupora is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,998 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eupora <2>
    • Sapa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sapa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sapa
      • Sapa is located in Webster County
    • Mathiston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Walthall
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walthall
      • Walthall is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
    • Clarkson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkson
      • Clarkson is located in Webster County
    • Fame
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fame
      • Fame is located in Webster County
  • Winston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Hinze
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinze
      • Hinze is located in Winston County
    • Vowell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vowell
      • Vowell is located in Winston County
    • Louisville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Plattsburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattsburg
      • Plattsburg is located in Winston County
    • Noxapater
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Noxapater have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noxapater
      • Noxapater is located in Winston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 434 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Noxapater <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Bear Creek ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bear Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bear Creek, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bear Creek.

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 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 Bear Creek:

Cemeteries Near Bear Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bear Creek.

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

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

  • Bear Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bear Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bear Creek Cemetery
  • Liberty Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liberty Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liberty Hill Cemetery
  • McCool Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McCool Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McCool Cemetery
  • Mt. Pilgrim Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pilgrim Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pilgrim Cemetery
  • Hemphill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hemphill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hemphill Cemetery
  • Beulah Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beulah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beulah Cemetery
  • Weir Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weir Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weir Cemetery
  • White Plains Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Plains Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Plains Cemetery
  • Bowie Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bowie Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bowie Chapel Cemetery
  • First Unity UMC Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Weir Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weir Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weir Chapel Cemetery
  • Mill Springs Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mill Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mill Springs Cemetery
  • Continue List   (432 more) ...
    • Mt. Moriah Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Moriah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Moriah Cemetery
    • French Camp Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the French Camp Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the French Camp Cemetery
    • Berea Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Berea Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Berea 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.

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

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

  • McCool
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCool
    • McCool is located in Attala County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
  • Weir
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weir have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weir
    • Weir is located in Choctaw County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weir <2>
  • French Camp
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for French Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Camp
    • French Camp is located in Choctaw County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for French Camp <2>
  • Fentress
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fentress have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fentress
    • Fentress is located in Choctaw County
  • Huntsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huntsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
    • Huntsville is located in Montgomery County
  • Ethel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
    • Ethel is located in Attala County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
  • Chester
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chester have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
    • Chester is located in Choctaw County
  • Bankston ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bankston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bankston
    • Bankston is located in Choctaw County
  • Rural Hill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rural Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural Hill
    • Rural Hill is located in Winston County
  • Rome
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rome have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rome
    • Rome is located in Winston County
  • Ackerman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Newtonville ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newtonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtonville
    • Newtonville is located in Attala County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Poplar Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
      • Poplar Creek is located in Montgomery County
    • Chita ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chita have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chita
      • Chita is located in Attala County
    • Stewart
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stewart have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
      • Stewart is located in Montgomery County

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

The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.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 Bear Creek, 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>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.
<4>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.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Bear Creek) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bear Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2412, Longitude: -89.3556       In this case, the coordinates for Bear Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024