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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 Morriston (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 Morriston. 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 hospitals 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.

Morriston is located in Forrest 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 Forrest County: Covington, Jones, Lamar, Perry & Stone.

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

  • Forrest County     (The home county of Morriston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morriston, with the one closest to Morriston listed first.
    • Goodluck
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Goodluck is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
    • Petal
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Petal is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,692 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petal <1>
    • Hattiesburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • McLaurin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • McLaurin is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLaurin
    • Brooklyn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Carnes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Carnes is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes
  • Covington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morriston, with the one closest to Morriston listed first.
    • Lux
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Lux is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
    • Sanford
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Sanford is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
    • Seminary
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Kola
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Kola is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kola
    • Collins
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hot Coffee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hot Coffee is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Coffee
    • Williamsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Williamsburg is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morriston, with the one closest to Morriston listed first.
    • Bothwell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Bothwell is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bothwell
    • Avera
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Avera is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avera
    • McLain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • McLain is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
  • Jasper County
    • Moss
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Moss is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss
      • Moss has also been known as:
      • Mossville
  • Jefferson Davis County
    • Melba
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Melba is located in Jefferson Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melba
  • Jones County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morriston, with the one closest to Morriston listed first.
    • Ovett
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Ovett is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovett
    • Ellisville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Antioch
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Antioch is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Laurel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Service
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Service is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Service
    • Soso
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Soso is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soso
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
    • Errata
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Errata is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errata
    • Amy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Amy is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amy
    • Sandersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Sandersville is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 721 people
  • Lamar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morriston, with the one closest to Morriston listed first.
    • West Hattiesburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
    • Sumrall
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Purvis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Perry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morriston, with the one closest to Morriston listed first.
    • Richton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • New Augusta
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Wingate
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Wingate is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
    • Beaumont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Beaumont is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morriston, with the one closest to Morriston listed first.
    • Mulberry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Mulberry is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
    • Whistler
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Whistler is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistler

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

Cemeteries Near Morriston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Morriston.

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

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

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

  • Morriston Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Odoms Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Runnels Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Jordan Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Barlow Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Leeville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Grant Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Walters Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Kirland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Coltins Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Union Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Chappell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (365 more) ...

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 Morriston in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Morriston.

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

  • Eastabuchie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Eastabuchie is located in Forrest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastabuchie
  • Moselle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Moselle is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselle
  • Hattiesburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Ellisville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Laurel
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Moscos
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Moscos is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscos
  • Soso
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Soso is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soso
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
  • Henderson
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Henderson is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
  • Errata
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Errata is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errata
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Amy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Amy is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amy
    • Gitano
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Gitano is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gitano
    • Sandersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Sandersville is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 721 people
    • Ora
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Ora is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
    • Avera
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Avera is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avera
    • Williamsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Williamsburg is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg

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

Newspapers Published in Morriston ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Morriston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Morriston, 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 Morriston.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Morriston:

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