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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 Sumrall (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 Sumrall. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Sumrall is located in Lamar County.

To see how the shape of Mississippi's counties 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 Sumrall. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sumrall:

  • Lamar County     (The home county of Sumrall)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumrall, with the one closest to Sumrall listed first.
    • West Hattiesburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Hattiesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
      • West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
    • Purvis
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Purvis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purvis
      • Purvis is located in Lamar County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,398 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Purvis <2>
    • Wells Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wells Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Town
      • Wells Town is located in Lamar County
    • Lumberton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumberton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumberton
      • Lumberton is located in Lamar County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,242 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lumberton <2>
  • Covington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumrall, with the one closest to Sumrall listed first.
    • Lux
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Seminary
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seminary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary
      • Seminary is located in Covington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seminary <2>
    • Kola
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Williamsburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Collins
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collins have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
      • Collins is located in Covington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collins <2>
    • Arbo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arbo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbo
      • Arbo is located in Covington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arbo
      • From Sumrall to Arbo
    • Hot Coffee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Mount Olive
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
      • Mount Olive is located in Covington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people
  • Forrest County
  • Jefferson Davis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumrall, with the one closest to Sumrall listed first.
    • Bassfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bassfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassfield
      • Bassfield is located in Jefferson Davis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
    • Prentiss
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Vale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Jones County
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumrall, with the one closest to Sumrall listed first.
    • Arm
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Tilton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tilton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
      • Tilton is located in Lawrence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tilton
      • From Sumrall to Tilton
    • Silver Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
      • Silver Creek is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Creek <2>
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumrall, with the one closest to Sumrall listed first.
    • Columbia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Expose
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Expose. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Expose
      • Expose is located in Marion County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Expose
      • From Sumrall to Expose
    • Goss
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goss. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
      • Goss is located in Marion County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Goss
      • From Sumrall to Goss
    • Pinebur
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Simpson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumrall, with the one closest to Sumrall listed first.
    • Jaynesville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jaynesville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaynesville
      • Jaynesville is located in Simpson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jaynesville
      • From Sumrall to Jaynesville
    • Coats
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Smith County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sumrall, with the one closest to Sumrall listed first.
    • Taylorsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taylorsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylorsville
      • Taylorsville is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,241 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Taylorsville <2>
    • Mize
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mize have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mize
      • Mize is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mize <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Sumrall ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sumrall.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Sumrall Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Martin Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Martin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jones Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jones Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jones Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • King Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the King Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the King Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Byrd Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Byrd Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Byrd Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Presley Watts Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presley Watts Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Presley Watts Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taylor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Taylor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clark Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Graham Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Graham Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Graham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (559 more) ...
    • Russell Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Russell Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Russell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Clinton Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clinton Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clinton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Gates Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gates Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gates Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

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

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

  • Moscos
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moscos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscos
    • Moscos is located in Covington County
  • Williamsburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Eastabuchie
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastabuchie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastabuchie
    • Eastabuchie is located in Forrest County
  • Hattiesburg
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Moselle
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moselle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselle
    • Moselle is located in Jones County
  • Ora
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
    • Ora is located in Covington County
  • Columbia
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Goss
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goss. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
    • Goss is located in Marion County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Goss
    • From Sumrall to Goss
  • Mount Olive
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
    • Mount Olive is located in Covington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people
  • Ellisville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Oak Vale
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Pickwick
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pickwick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick
    • Pickwick is located in Marion County
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Spring Cottage
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Cottage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Cottage
      • Spring Cottage is located in Marion County
    • Bunker Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bunker Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
      • Bunker Hill is located in Smith County
    • Jaynesville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jaynesville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaynesville
      • Jaynesville is located in Simpson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jaynesville
      • From Sumrall to Jaynesville

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

Newspapers Published in Sumrall ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sumrall.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sumrall, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sumrall.

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 Sumrall:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sumrall. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Lamar County: www.lamarcounty.com/

The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 Sumrall, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sumrall) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sumrall. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.4190, Longitude: -89.5458    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025