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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 Fairfield (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 Fairfield. 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 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.

Fairfield is located in Union 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 Union County: Benton, Lafayette, Lee, Pontotoc, Prentiss & Tippah.

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

  • Union County     (The home county of Fairfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Ellistown
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Ellistown is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellistown
    • Blue Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mound City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Mound City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
    • Alpine
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Alpine is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
    • Graham
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Graham is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
    • Molino
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Molino is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Molino
    • New Albany
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ingomar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Ingomar is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingomar
    • Glenfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Glenfield is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenfield
    • Fairview
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Fairview is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Myrtle
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Darden
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Darden is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darden
  • Alcorn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Hightown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Hightown is located in Alcorn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightown
    • Rienzi
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rienzi is located in Alcorn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rienzi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 304 people
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Hickory Flat
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Pine Grove is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
  • Chickasaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • New Houlka
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • New Houlka is located in Chickasaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Houlka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 601 people
      • Former names for New Houlka:
      • Houlka
      • Old Houlka
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Houlka <1>
    • Okolona
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Van Vleet
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Van Vleet is located in Chickasaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Vleet
  • Itawamba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Kirkville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Kirkville is located in Itawamba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkville
    • Mantachie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Ballardsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ballardsville is located in Itawamba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballardsville
    • Greenwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenwood is located in Itawamba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Abney
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Abney is located in Itawamba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abney
    • Fulton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Carolina
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Carolina is located in Itawamba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolina
    • Clay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Clay is located in Itawamba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
  • Lafayette County
    • Lafayette Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Lafayette Springs is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lafayette Springs
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Jug Fork
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Jug Fork is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jug Fork
    • Birmingham
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Birmingham is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
    • Boggan Bend
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Boggan Bend is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boggan Bend
    • Corrona
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Corrona is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corrona
    • Saltillo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Guntown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Indian Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Indian Hills is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
    • Bissell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Bissell is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bissell
    • Tupelo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Plantersville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Verona
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mooreville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Mooreville is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooreville
    • Shannon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Cornersville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Cornersville is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornersville
    • Potts Camp
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Monroe County
    • Nettleton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pontotoc County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Sherman
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Cherry Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Cherry Creek is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
    • Ecru
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Ecru is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ecru
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,067 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ecru <1>
    • Nixon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Nixon is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixon
    • Pontotoc
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Possum Trot
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Possum Trot is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possum Trot
    • Turnpike
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Turnpike is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnpike
    • Algoma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Thaxton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Goodford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Goodford is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodford
    • Pannell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Pannell is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pannell
    • Toccopola
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Toccopola is located in Pontotoc County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toccopola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 258 people
  • Prentiss County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Baldwyn
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Geeville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Geeville is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geeville
    • Wheeler
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Wheeler is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
    • Blackland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Blackland is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackland
    • Marietta
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Marietta is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
    • Booneville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jumpertown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jumpertown is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumpertown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
    • Lake City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake City is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
    • Pisgah
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Pisgah is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisgah
    • New Site
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • New Site is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Site
    • Altitude
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Altitude is located in Prentiss County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altitude
  • Tippah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fairfield, with the one closest to Fairfield listed first.
    • Dumas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Dumas is located in Tippah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
    • Clarysville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Clarysville is located in Tippah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarysville
    • Blue Mountain
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Blue Mountain is located in Tippah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 933 people
    • Lowrey
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Lowrey is located in Tippah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowrey
    • Ripley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Gravestown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Gravestown is located in Tippah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravestown
    • Whitten Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Whitten Town is located in Tippah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitten Town
    • Falkner
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Fairfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fairfield.

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 Fairfield - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fairfield covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Fairfield Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Ellistown Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Blue Springs Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Red Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Jones Memorial Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Dunlap Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Gilead Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • New Harmony Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Sherman Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Old Macedonia Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • McNeil Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (474 more) ...
    • Birmingham Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Stone Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Coleman Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)

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>

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

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

  • Ellistown
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ellistown is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellistown
  • Blue Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Sherman
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Macedonia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Macedonia is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedonia
  • Birmingham
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Birmingham is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
  • Corrona
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Corrona is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corrona
  • Wallerville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Wallerville is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallerville
  • Bethany
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Bethany is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
  • Baker
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Baker is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
  • Cherry Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Cherry Creek is located in Pontotoc County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
  • Chesterville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Chesterville is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterville
  • Saltillo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Keownville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Keownville is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keownville
    • Graham
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Graham is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
    • Molino
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Molino is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Molino

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

Newspapers Published in Fairfield ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fairfield.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fairfield, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fairfield.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Fairfield:

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>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- Fairfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Fairfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.