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 Browns Wells (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 Browns Wells. 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 Browns Wells ...
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 Browns Wells: Browns Wls.
- While the name of this community is Browns Wells, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Browns Wells may originally have been Brown's Wells.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Browns Wells might be written as Brown Wells.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Browns Wells. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Browns Wells.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.
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 south 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.
Browns Wells is located in Copiah County.
To see how the shape of Mississippi's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Copiah County: Claiborne, Hinds, Lawrence, Lincoln, Rankin & Simpson.
Below are the counties that are near Browns Wells. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Browns Wells:
- Copiah County (The home county of Browns Wells)
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- Glancy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Glancy is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glancy
- Bowerton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bowerton is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowerton
- Martinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Martinsville is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
- Beauregard
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Beauregard is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauregard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
- Hazlehurst
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Wesson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Allen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Allen is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Sardis
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Sardis is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis
- Crystal Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Georgetown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Georgetown is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Hopewell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hopewell is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
- Carpenter
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Carpenter is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter
- Myles
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Myles is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myles
- Claiborne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- Carlisle
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Carlisle is located in Claiborne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
- Saint Elmo
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Elmo is located in Claiborne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Rocky Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Rocky Springs is located in Claiborne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
- Willows
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Willows is located in Claiborne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willows
- Port Gibson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- McCall Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Eddiceton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Eddiceton is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddiceton
- Bude
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hinds County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- Bear Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Bear Creek is located in Hinds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
- Thompsonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Thompsonville is located in Hinds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
- Utica
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Terry
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Adams
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Adams is located in Hinds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams
- Midway
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Midway is located in Hinds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Palestine
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Palestine is located in Hinds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
- Cayuga
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Cayuga is located in Hinds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga
- Learned
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Oakley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Oakley is located in Hinds County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakley
- Jefferson County
- Red Lick
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Red Lick is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Lick
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- Tryus
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Tryus is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tryus
- Nola
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Nola is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nola
- Rosella
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Rosella is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosella
- Monticello
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hooker
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Hooker is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Grange ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Grange is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange
- New Hebron
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lincoln County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- New Sight
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- New Sight is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sight
- Montgomery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Montgomery is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery
- Caseyville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Caseyville is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caseyville
- Brookhaven
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Cobbs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Cobbs is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbs
- Wellman
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Wellman is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellman
- Norfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Norfield is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norfield
- Rankin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- Alonzo
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Alonzo is located in Rankin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alonzo
- Clear Branch
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Clear Branch is located in Rankin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Branch
- Whites
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Whites is located in Rankin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whites
- King
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- King is located in Rankin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
- Simpson County
- Shivers
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Shivers is located in Simpson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shivers
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Browns Wells, see our County-by-County Page for Browns Wells.
Cemeteries Near Browns Wells ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Browns Wells.
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 Browns Wells - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Browns Wells covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- Edwards Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Pleasant Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Tyson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Spring Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Ellington - Redus Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellington - Redus Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Ellington - Redus Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> to the southwest of Hazlehurst.
- The Ellington - Redus Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ellington Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #59152 <4>
- Antioch Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Peets Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Rocky Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Sylvarena Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Smyrna Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Mercy Seat Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sweetwater Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (312 more) ...
- Newell Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Starling Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Wade Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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.<5>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Browns Wells had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Browns Wells, with the one closest to Browns Wells listed first.
- Bowerton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bowerton is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowerton
- Martinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Martinsville is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
- Gallatin
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Gallatin is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallatin
- Beauregard
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Beauregard is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauregard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
- Wesson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hazlehurst
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Allen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Allen is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Barlow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Barlow is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barlow
- Montgomery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Montgomery is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery
- Caseyville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Caseyville is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caseyville
- Gallman
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Gallman is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallman
- Brookhaven
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Ashley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Ashley is located in Copiah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashley
- Kennolia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kennolia is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennolia
- Crystal Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Browns Wells. See our List of 1890's Communities around Browns Wells.
Newspapers Published in Browns Wells ...
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 68 newspapers that have been published in the area around Browns Wells.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Browns Wells, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Browns Wells.
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 Browns Wells:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Copiah County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Claiborne County
- Franklin County
- Hinds County
- Jefferson County
- Lawrence County
- Lincoln County
- Rankin County
- Simpson County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Mississippi
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Browns Wells) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Browns Wells, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |