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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 Burns (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 Burns. 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 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.

Burns is located in Smith 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 Smith County: Covington, Jasper, Jones, Newton, Rankin, Scott & Simpson.

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

  • Smith County     (The home county of Burns)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns, with the one closest to Burns listed first.
    • Raleigh
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Polkville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Polkville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polkville
      • Polkville is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 819 people
    • Daniel
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Bezer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bezer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bezer
      • Bezer is located in Smith County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bezer
      • From Burns to Bezer
    • Sylvarena
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Mineral Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Mize
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mize have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mize
      • Mize is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mize <1>
    • Taylorsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taylorsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylorsville
      • Taylorsville is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,241 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Taylorsville <1>
  • Covington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns, with the one closest to Burns listed first.
    • Mount Olive
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
      • Mount Olive is located in Covington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people
    • Hot Coffee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Arbo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arbo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbo
      • Arbo is located in Covington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arbo
      • From Burns to Arbo
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns, with the one closest to Burns listed first.
    • Success ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Success. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
      • Success is located in Jasper County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Success
      • From Burns to Success
    • Louin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Hamlet ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Stevens ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Montrose
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Bay Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Springs
      • Bay Springs is located in Jasper County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,650 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bay Springs <1>
    • Turnerville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Verba ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Baxter ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Lake Como
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • McNeal ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Ras
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Acme ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Acme. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
      • Acme is located in Jasper County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Acme
      • From Burns to Acme
  • Jones County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns, with the one closest to Burns listed first.
    • Amy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Soso
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Newton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns, with the one closest to Burns listed first.
    • Six Towns ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Six Towns have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Towns
      • Six Towns is located in Newton County
    • Newton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Conehatta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Bluff
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Rankin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns, with the one closest to Burns listed first.
    • Galilee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Galilee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galilee
      • Galilee is located in Rankin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Galilee
      • From Burns to Galilee
    • Puckett
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Puckett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckett
      • Puckett is located in Rankin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
    • Pelahatchie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Cato
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Brandon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Fannin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fannin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fannin
      • Fannin is located in Rankin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fannin
      • From Burns to Fannin
    • Sand Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns, with the one closest to Burns listed first.
    • Hunter Town
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunter Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Town
      • Hunter Town is located in Scott County
    • Cooperville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Kalem
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Raworth
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Forest
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Forest. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
      • Forest is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,483 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forest <1>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Forest
      • From Burns to Forest
    • Morton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morton
      • Morton is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,522 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morton <1>
    • Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Branch
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Clifton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clifton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
      • Clifton is located in Scott County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Clifton
      • From Burns to Clifton
    • Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beach. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach
      • Beach is located in Scott County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Beach
      • From Burns to Beach
    • Harperville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Cash
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cash. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash
      • Cash is located in Scott County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cash
      • From Burns to Cash
  • Simpson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns, with the one closest to Burns listed first.
    • Coats
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Magee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Magee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magee
      • Magee is located in Simpson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,094 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Magee <1>
    • Sanatorium
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mendenhall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mendenhall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendenhall
      • Mendenhall is located in Simpson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,393 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mendenhall <1>
    • D'Lo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for D'Lo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for D'Lo
      • D'Lo is located in Simpson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 442 people
    • Braxton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Braxton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braxton
      • Braxton is located in Simpson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
    • Jaynesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jaynesville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaynesville
      • Jaynesville is located in Simpson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jaynesville
      • From Burns to Jaynesville
    • Westville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Westville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville
      • Westville is located in Simpson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Westville
      • From Burns to Westville

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

Cemeteries Near Burns ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Burns.

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

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

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Burns had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Shongelo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shongelo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shongelo
    • Shongelo is located in Smith County
  • Trenton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trenton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
    • Trenton is located in Smith County
  • Raleigh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Homewood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homewood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
    • Homewood is located in Scott County
  • Gunn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gunn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunn
    • Gunn is located in Smith County
  • Pulaski
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pulaski have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulaski
    • Pulaski is located in Scott County
  • Polkville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Polkville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polkville
    • Polkville is located in Smith County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 819 people
  • Daniel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Bezer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bezer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bezer
    • Bezer is located in Smith County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bezer
    • From Burns to Bezer
  • Norris
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norris have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norris
    • Norris is located in Scott County
  • Sylvarena
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Puckett
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Puckett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckett
    • Puckett is located in Rankin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Raworth
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Morton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morton
      • Morton is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,522 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morton <1>
    • Forest
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Forest. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
      • Forest is located in Scott County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,483 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forest <1>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Forest
      • From Burns to Forest

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

Newspapers Published in Burns ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Burns.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Burns, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Burns.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Burns:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Burns. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/

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>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.
<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>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 Burns, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Burns) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Burns. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1355, Longitude: -89.5475       In this case, the coordinates for Burns have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025