RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Mississippi >> George County >> Merrill >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Merrill (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 Merrill. 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 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.

Merrill is located in George 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 George County: Mobile (AL), Greene, Jackson, Perry & Stone.

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

  • George County     (The home county of Merrill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • Bexley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Bexley is located in George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bexley
    • Lucedale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Agricola
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Howell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Howell is located in George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
  • Forrest County
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • McLain
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • McLain is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
    • Hillman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hillman is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
    • Leakesville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Brown Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Brown Town is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
    • Avera
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Avera is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avera
    • Clark
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Clark is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
    • Bothwell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Bothwell is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bothwell
    • Carson City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Carson City is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson City
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • Americus ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Americus is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
    • Brewton ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Brewton is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewton
      • Brewton has also been known as:
      • Brewer's Bluff
    • Wade
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Wade is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
    • Hurley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Vancleave
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Big Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Big Point is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Point
  • Perry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • Beaumont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Beaumont is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
    • Wingate
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Wingate is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
    • New Augusta
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Richton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Stone County
    • Wiggins
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Mobile County (AL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • Wilmer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Gulfcrest
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Gulfcrest is located in Mobile County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulfcrest
    • Citronelle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Semmes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Semmes is located in Mobile County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Semmes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,736 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Semmes <1>
  • Washington County (AL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Merrill, with the one closest to Merrill listed first.
    • Deer Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Deer Park is located in Washington County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
    • Escatawpa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Escatawpa is located in Washington County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
    • Vinegar Bend
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Vinegar Bend is located in Washington County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinegar Bend

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

Cemeteries Near Merrill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Merrill.

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

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

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

  • Merrill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Howard Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Holmes Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Bush Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Ball Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Pipkin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Woodard Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Fairley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Merritt Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Eubanks - Dickerson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Eubanks Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (251 more) ...
    • Coward Place Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Grove Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Leaf Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)

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.<2>

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

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

  • Leaf
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Leaf is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf
  • Leakesville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Americus ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Americus is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
  • Avera
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Avera is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avera
  • Adamsville ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Adamsville is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
  • Three Rivers
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Three Rivers is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Rivers
  • Citronelle
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Deer Park
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Deer Park is located in Washington County (AL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
  • Vinegar Bend
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Vinegar Bend is located in Washington County (AL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinegar Bend
  • Escatawpa
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Escatawpa is located in Washington County (AL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa

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

Newspapers Published in Merrill ...

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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Merrill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Merrill, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Merrill.

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 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 Merrill:

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>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 Merrill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Merrill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.