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 Matthews (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 Matthews. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Matthews is located in Jones 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 Jones County: Clarke, Covington, Forrest, Jasper, Smith & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Matthews. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Matthews:
- Jones County (The home county of Matthews)
- The following are listed by their distance from Matthews, with the one closest to Matthews listed first.
- Amy
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Amy is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amy
- Service
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Service is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Service
- Soso
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Soso is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soso
- Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
- Laurel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Errata
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Errata is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errata
- Sandersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Sandersville is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 721 people
- Ellisville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Antioch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Antioch is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
- Ovett
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ovett is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovett
- Clarke County
- The following are listed by their distance from Matthews, with the one closest to Matthews listed first.
- Barnett
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Barnett is located in Clarke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnett
- Pachuta
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pachuta is located in Clarke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pachuta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
- Shubuta
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Shubuta is located in Clarke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shubuta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 399 people
- Covington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Matthews, with the one closest to Matthews listed first.
- Hot Coffee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Hot Coffee is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Coffee
- Kola
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Kola is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kola
- Collins
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Seminary
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Sanford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Sanford is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
- Arbo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Arbo is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbo
- Lux
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lux is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
- Williamsburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Williamsburg is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
- Mount Olive
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Mount Olive is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
- Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people
- Jasper County
- The following are listed by their distance from Matthews, with the one closest to Matthews listed first.
- Moss
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Moss is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss
- Moss has also been known as:
- Mossville
- Stringer
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Vernon ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Vernon is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Lake Como
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Lake Como is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Como
- Acme ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Acme is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Bay Springs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Waldrup ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Waldrup is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldrup
- Turnerville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Turnerville is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnerville
- Heidelberg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hamlet ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hamlet is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
- Stevens ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Stevens is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevens
- Kelona
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kelona is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelona
- Fouke ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Fouke is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fouke
- Simpson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Matthews, with the one closest to Matthews listed first.
- Coats
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Coats is located in Simpson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
- Magee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Smith County
- The following are listed by their distance from Matthews, with the one closest to Matthews listed first.
- Taylorsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Mineral Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mineral Springs is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Sylvarena
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Sylvarena is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvarena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
- Bezer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bezer is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bezer
- Mize
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Raleigh
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Burns
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Burns is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns
- Wayne County
- Whistler
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Whistler is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistler
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Matthews, see our County-by-County Page for Matthews.
Cemeteries Near Matthews ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Matthews.
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 Matthews - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Matthews covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Matthews, with the one closest to Matthews listed first.
- Matthews Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- County Line Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Welborn Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Memory Gardens Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Knight Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Union Line Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Shows Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Shady Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Knight Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knight Cemetery
- The Knight Cemetery has also been known as:
- Knight Family Cemetery
- Newton Knight Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #60306 <2>
- Antioch Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Old Antioch Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (392 more) ...
- Lebanon Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Liberty Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Palestine Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
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 Matthews in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Matthews.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Matthews, with the one closest to Matthews listed first.
- Amy
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Amy is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amy
- Soso
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Soso is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soso
- Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
- Gitano
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Gitano is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gitano
- Laurel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Errata
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Errata is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errata
- Sandersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Sandersville is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 721 people
- Lake Como
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Lake Como is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Como
- Acme ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Acme is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Taylorsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Ellisville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Heidelberg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Turnerville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Turnerville is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnerville
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Hamlet ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hamlet is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
- Sylvarena
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Sylvarena is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvarena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
- Bunker Hill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Bunker Hill is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Matthews. See our List of 1890's Communities around Matthews.
Newspapers Published in Matthews ...
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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Matthews.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Matthews, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Matthews.
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 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 Matthews:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Jones County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clarke County
- Covington County
- Jasper County
- Simpson County
- Smith County
- Wayne 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 Matthews, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Matthews) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |