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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 Derma (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 Derma. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Derma is located in Calhoun 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 Calhoun County: Chickasaw, Grenada, Lafayette, Montgomery, Pontotoc, Webster & Yalobusha.

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

  • Calhoun County     (The home county of Derma)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Derma, with the one closest to Derma listed first.
    • Benela
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Calhoun City
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calhoun City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun City
      • Calhoun City is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,649 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Calhoun City <2>
    • Vardaman
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vardaman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vardaman
      • Vardaman is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,259 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vardaman <2>
    • Pittsboro
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pittsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsboro
      • Pittsboro is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 188 people
    • Loyd
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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 Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Loyd
      • From Derma to Loyd
    • Big Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
      • Big Creek is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 146 people
    • Bruce
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bruce have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
      • Bruce is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,798 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bruce <2>
    • Slate Spring
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Slate Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slate Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Springs
      • Slate Springs is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
    • Banner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Sarepta
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sarepta. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarepta
      • Sarepta is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sarepta
      • From Derma to Sarepta
  • Chickasaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Derma, with the one closest to Derma listed first.
    • Anchor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Anchor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor
      • Anchor is located in Chickasaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Anchor
      • From Derma to Anchor
    • Woodland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Houston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Thelma
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Thelma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thelma
      • Thelma is located in Chickasaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Thelma
      • From Derma to Thelma
    • New Houlka
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Sycamore ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sycamore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
      • Sycamore is located in Chickasaw County
    • Van Vleet
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Choctaw County
    • Reform
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Reform. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reform
      • Reform is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Reform
      • From Derma to Reform
  • Clay County
  • Grenada County
  • Lafayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Derma, with the one closest to Derma listed first.
    • Cornish
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cornish. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornish
      • Cornish is located in Lafayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cornish
      • From Derma to Cornish
    • Delay
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Delay. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delay
      • Delay is located in Lafayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Delay
      • From Derma to Delay
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Derma, with the one closest to Derma listed first.
    • Sweatman
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Duck Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Minerva
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Minerva. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minerva
      • Minerva is located in Montgomery County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Minerva
      • From Derma to Minerva
    • Eskridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eskridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskridge
      • Eskridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Eskridge
      • From Derma to Eskridge
  • Oktibbeha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Derma, with the one closest to Derma listed first.
    • Maben
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Double Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pontotoc County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Derma, with the one closest to Derma listed first.
    • Pannell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Algoma
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Goodford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Toccopola
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toccopola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toccopola
      • Toccopola is located in Pontotoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
  • Webster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Derma, with the one closest to Derma listed first.
    • Montevista
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Montevista. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montevista
      • Montevista is located in Webster County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Montevista
      • From Derma to Montevista
    • Hohenlinden
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fame
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Mantee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mantee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantee
      • Mantee is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
    • Clarkson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Walthall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Eupora
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eupora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sapa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sapa
      • Sapa is located in Webster County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sapa
      • From Derma to Sapa
    • Mathiston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Yalobusha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Derma, with the one closest to Derma listed first.
    • Coffeeville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Velma
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Velma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velma
      • Velma is located in Yalobusha County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Velma
      • From Derma to Velma
    • Water Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Water Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
      • Water Valley is located in Yalobusha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,221 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Water Valley <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Derma ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Derma.

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

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

  • Oak Springs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Springs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Benela Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Benela Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Benela Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Duncan Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Duncan Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Duncan Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calhoun City Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calhoun City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calhoun City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Macedonia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Macedonia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Providence Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Providence Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Providence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Providence Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Providence Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Providence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Liberty Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Herman Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Herman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Herman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Gauley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Gauley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Gauley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Friendship Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friendship Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friendship Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cross Road Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cross Road Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cross Road Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (346 more) ...
    • Gauley Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gauley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gauley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Gaston Springs Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gaston Springs Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gaston Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<6>

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

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

  • Benela
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Hollis
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hollis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis
    • Hollis is located in Calhoun County
  • Pittsboro
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pittsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsboro
    • Pittsboro is located in Calhoun County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 188 people
  • Bently
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bently have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bently
    • Bently is located in Calhoun County
  • Loyd
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • 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 Calhoun County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Loyd
    • From Derma to Loyd
  • Big Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
    • Big Creek is located in Calhoun County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 146 people
  • Atlanta
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atlanta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
    • Atlanta is located in Chickasaw County
  • Bowles ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowles have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowles
    • Bowles is located in Chickasaw County
  • Slate Spring
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Montevista
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Montevista. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montevista
    • Montevista is located in Webster County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Montevista
    • From Derma to Montevista
  • Sabougla
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sabougla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sabougla
    • Sabougla is located in Calhoun County
  • Hohenlinden
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Tabbville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tabbville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabbville
      • Tabbville is located in Chickasaw County
    • Reid
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reid have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid
      • Reid is located in Calhoun County
    • Congress ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Congress have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congress
      • Congress is located in Chickasaw County

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

Newspapers Published in Derma ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Derma.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Derma, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Derma.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Derma:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Derma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Derma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8553, Longitude: -89.2855    
<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>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 Derma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.