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 Rocky Branch (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 Rocky Branch. 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.
Name Variations for Rocky Branch ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Rocky Branch: Rocky Br. (or less commonly used: Rocky Brnch.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rocky Branch. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rocky Branch.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 doctors 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.
Rocky Branch is located in Lamar 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 Lamar County: Covington, Forrest, Jefferson Davis, Marion & Pearl River.
Below are the counties that are near Rocky Branch. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rocky Branch:
- Lamar County (The home county of Rocky Branch)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Branch, with the one closest to Rocky Branch listed first.
- Sumrall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- West Hattiesburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
- Purvis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wells Town
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wells Town is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Town
- Lumberton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Covington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Branch, with the one closest to Rocky Branch listed first.
- Lux
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lux is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
- Sanford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sanford is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
- Seminary
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Williamsburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Williamsburg is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
- Kola
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Kola is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kola
- Collins
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Arbo
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Arbo is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbo
- Mount Olive
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Mount Olive is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
- Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people
- Forrest County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Branch, with the one closest to Rocky Branch listed first.
- Hattiesburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Petal
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- McLaurin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- McLaurin is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLaurin
- Goodluck
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Goodluck is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
- Jefferson Davis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Branch, with the one closest to Rocky Branch listed first.
- Melba
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Melba is located in Jefferson Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melba
- Bassfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bassfield is located in Jefferson Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Oak Vale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Vale is located in Jefferson Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Vale
- Prentiss
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Branch, with the one closest to Rocky Branch listed first.
- Tilton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Tilton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
- Arm
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Arm is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arm
- Silver Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Branch, with the one closest to Rocky Branch listed first.
- Columbia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Pinebur
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Pinebur is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinebur
- Expose
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Expose is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Expose
- Goss
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Goss is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
- Twin
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Twin is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin
- Kokomo
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Pearl River County
- Hillsdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Walthall County
- Sartinville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Sartinville is located in Walthall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartinville
- Washington Parish (LA)
- Angie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Angie is located in Washington Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Angie <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rocky Branch, see our County-by-County Page for Rocky Branch.
Cemeteries Near Rocky Branch ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rocky Branch.
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 Rocky Branch - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rocky Branch covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rocky Branch, with the one closest to Rocky Branch listed first.
- Old Rocky Branch Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Watts Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Slade Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Buchanan Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Hopewell Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Tolar Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Oloh Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Martin - Lott Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Enon Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Russell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hickory Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Continue List (496 more) ...
- Broom Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Baylis Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Gilead 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 Rocky Branch in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rocky Branch.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rocky Branch, with the one closest to Rocky Branch listed first.
- Columbia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Goss
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Goss is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
- Pickwick
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pickwick is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick
- Spring Cottage
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Cottage is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Cottage
- Hattiesburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Moscos
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Moscos is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscos
- Williamsburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Williamsburg is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
- Oak Vale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Vale is located in Jefferson Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Vale
- Eastabuchie
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Eastabuchie is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastabuchie
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Ora
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Ora is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
- Moselle
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Moselle is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselle
- Tilton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Tilton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
- Hillsdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Orvisburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Orvisburg is located in Pearl River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orvisburg
- Silver Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rocky Branch. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rocky Branch.
Newspapers Published in Rocky Branch ...
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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rocky Branch.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rocky Branch, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rocky Branch.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Rocky Branch:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Lamar County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Covington County
- Forrest County
- Jefferson Davis County
- Lawrence County
- Marion County
- Pearl River County
- Walthall County
- Washington Parish
- 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> | 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 Rocky Branch, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Rocky Branch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |