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 Dickens Ferry (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 Dickens Ferry. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Dickens Ferry is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Mobile (AL), George, Harrison & Stone.
Below are the counties that are near Dickens Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Dickens Ferry:
- Jackson County (The home county of Dickens Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Dickens Ferry, with the one closest to Dickens Ferry listed first.
- Big Point
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Big Point is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Point
- Hurley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Wade
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Wade is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
- Helena
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Helena is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
- Coll Town
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coll Town is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coll Town
- Americus ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Americus is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
- Brewton ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Brewton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewton
- Brewton has also been known as:
- Brewer's Bluff
- Orange Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Orange Grove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
- Escatawpa
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Escatawpa is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
- Moss Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Hickory Hills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hickory Hills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Martin Bluff
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Martin Bluff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Bluff
- Vancleave
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- George County
- The following are listed by their distance from Dickens Ferry, with the one closest to Dickens Ferry listed first.
- Howell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Howell is located in George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
- Agricola
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lucedale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bexley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bexley is located in George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bexley
- Greene County
- Brown Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Brown Town is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
- Harrison County
- D'Iberville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mobile County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Dickens Ferry, with the one closest to Dickens Ferry listed first.
- Grand Bay
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Elmo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Elmo is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Wilmer
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Semmes
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Irvington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Tillmans Corner
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Tillmans Corner is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillmans Corner
- Country Club Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Country Club Village is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Village
- Theodore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bayou La Batre
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Eight Mile
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Coden
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Prichard
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Bellefontaine
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bellefontaine is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefontaine
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Dickens Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Dickens Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Dickens Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dickens Ferry.
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 Dickens Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Dickens Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Dickens Ferry, with the one closest to Dickens Ferry listed first.
- Roberts Chapel UMC Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Big Point Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Tates Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Shady Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Forts Lake Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Union Baptist Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Joyner Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bethany Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Tanners Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Davis Chapel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Three Rivers Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Coleman Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (240 more) ...
- Wolf Ridge Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Dees Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Dickens Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Dickens Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Dickens Ferry, with the one closest to Dickens Ferry listed first.
- Three Rivers
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Three Rivers is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Rivers
- Grand Bay
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Americus ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Americus is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
- Fernland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Fernland is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernland
- Saint Elmo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Elmo is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Escatawpa
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Escatawpa is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
- Orange Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Orange Grove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
- Moss Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Vancleave
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Theodore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bayou La Batre
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Spring Hill is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Pascagoula
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Fowl River
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Fowl River is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowl River
- Fort Bayou ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Fort Bayou is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Bayou
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Dickens Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Dickens Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Dickens Ferry ...
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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dickens Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dickens Ferry, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dickens Ferry.
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 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 Dickens Ferry:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Jackson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- George County
- Greene County
- Harrison County
- Mobile County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Mississippi
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 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. |
| <3> | 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 Dickens Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Dickens Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |