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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 Shelton (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 Shelton. 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.

Shelton 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 Shelton. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Shelton:

  • Jones County     (The home county of Shelton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Ellisville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Ovett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Ovett is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovett
    • Soso
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Soso is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soso
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
    • Laurel
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Service
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Service is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Service
    • Antioch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Antioch is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Amy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Amy is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amy
    • Errata
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Errata is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errata
    • Sandersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Sandersville is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandersville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 721 people
  • Covington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Lux
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Lux is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
    • Sanford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Sanford is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
    • Seminary
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Kola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Kola is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kola
    • Collins
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hot Coffee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Hot Coffee is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Coffee
    • Williamsburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Williamsburg is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
    • Arbo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Arbo is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbo
    • Mount Olive
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • 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 Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Hattiesburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Petal
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Goodluck
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Goodluck is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
    • McLaurin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • McLaurin is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLaurin
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Moss
      (24 miles [38.6 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
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Jefferson Davis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Melba
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Melba is located in Jefferson Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melba
    • Bassfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Bassfield is located in Jefferson Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
  • Lamar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • West Hattiesburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
    • Sumrall
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Purvis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Perry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Richton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • New Augusta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wingate
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Wingate is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
  • Smith County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Taylorsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Mize
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayne County
    • Mulberry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Mulberry is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry

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

Cemeteries Near Shelton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shelton.

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

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

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

  • Shelton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Callahan Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Hopewell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Bryant Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Knight Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Edmonson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Fairfield Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Eaton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Shady Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Fairchild Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Crosby Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (485 more) ...
    • Bullock Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Crossroads Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Rawls Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)

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

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

  • Moselle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Moselle is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselle
  • Eastabuchie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Eastabuchie is located in Forrest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastabuchie
  • Hattiesburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Ellisville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Moscos
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Moscos is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscos
  • Ora
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ora is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
  • Williamsburg
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Williamsburg is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
  • Laurel
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Soso
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Soso is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soso
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
  • Gitano
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Gitano is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gitano
  • Amy
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Amy is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amy
  • Taylorsville
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Bunker Hill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
    • Errata
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Errata is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errata
    • Mount Olive
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Olive is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people

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

Newspapers Published in Shelton ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shelton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shelton, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shelton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Shelton:

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 Shelton, 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' (or 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- Shelton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.