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 Townsend (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 Townsend. 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.
Townsend is located in Kemper 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 Kemper County: Sumter (AL), Lauderdale, Neshoba, Noxubee & Winston.
Below are the counties that are near Townsend. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Townsend:
- Kemper County (The home county of Townsend)
- The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Sucarnoochee
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Sucarnoochee is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sucarnoochee
- Electric Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Electric Mills is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Electric Mills
- De Kalb
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Scooba
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Porterville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Porterville is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterville
- Narkeeta ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Narkeeta is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narkeeta
- Wahalak
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Wahalak is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahalak
- Giles
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Giles is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles
- Binnsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Binnsville is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binnsville
- Lynville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lynville is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynville
- Spinks ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Spinks is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spinks
- Rio
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Rio is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
- Lauderdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Daleville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Daleville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daleville
- Lockhart
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Lockhart is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart
- Bailey
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bailey is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey
- Martin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Martin is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
- Marion
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Smith
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Smith is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith
- Russell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Russell is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
- Collinsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Hookston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hookston is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hookston
- Suqualena
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Suqualena is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suqualena
- Nellieburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Nellieburg is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nellieburg
- Meridian
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Vimville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Vimville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vimville
- Neshoba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Bogue Chitto
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Bogue Chitto is located in Neshoba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue Chitto
- House
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- House is located in Neshoba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for House
- Ocobla
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Ocobla is located in Neshoba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocobla
- Tucker
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Tucker is located in Neshoba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
- Noxubee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Shuqualak
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Shuqualak is located in Noxubee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shuqualak
- Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
- Cooksville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Cooksville is located in Noxubee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Hashuqua ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hashuqua is located in Noxubee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hashuqua
- Harlan ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Harlan is located in Noxubee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlan
- Macon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Mashulaville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mashulaville is located in Noxubee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mashulaville
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Handle
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Handle is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handle
- Fearns Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Fearns Springs is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fearns Springs
- Randalls Bluff ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Randalls Bluff is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randalls Bluff
- Greene County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Miller
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Miller is located in Greene County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller
- West Greene
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- West Greene is located in Greene County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Greene
- Boligee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lizzieville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lizzieville is located in Greene County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lizzieville
- Pickens County (AL)
- Memphis
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Memphis is located in Pickens County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
- Sumter County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Emelle
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Emelle is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emelle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
- Sledge ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Sledge is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sledge
- Bethel ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Bethel is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Geiger
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Geiger is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geiger
- Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
- Boyd
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Boyd is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
- Sumterville
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Sumterville is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumterville
- Panola
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Panola is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
- Gainesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Gainesville is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gainesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 182 people
- Livingston
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- York
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- York is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,218 people
- Former names for York:
- New York Station
- York Station
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for York <1>
- Epes
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Epes is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
- Cuba
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Cuba is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
- Population from the 2020 Census: 287 people
- Moore Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Moore Town is located in Sumter County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore Town
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Townsend, see our County-by-County Page for Townsend.
Cemeteries Near Townsend ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Townsend.
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 Townsend - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Townsend covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Cherry Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Bethany Springs Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Macedonia Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Union Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Chapel Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- DeKalb Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Pinecrest Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Center Ridge Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Antioch Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Robbins Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Lawn Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rush Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (312 more) ...
- Felton Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Blue Chapel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hampton Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
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 Townsend in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Townsend.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
- Sucarnoochee
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Sucarnoochee is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sucarnoochee
- Porterville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Porterville is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterville
- Scooba
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Narkeeta ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Narkeeta is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narkeeta
- Mount Nebo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Mount Nebo is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Nebo
- Enondale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Enondale is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enondale
- Wahalak
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Wahalak is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahalak
- Kemper Springs
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Kemper Springs is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kemper Springs
- Giles
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Giles is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles
- Tamola
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Tamola is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamola
- Peden ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Peden is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peden
- Moscow
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Moscow is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Daleville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Daleville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daleville
- Binnsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Binnsville is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binnsville
- Prismatic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Prismatic is located in Kemper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prismatic
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Townsend. See our List of 1890's Communities around Townsend.
Newspapers Published in Townsend ...
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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Townsend.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Townsend, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Townsend.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Townsend:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Kemper County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Lauderdale County
- Neshoba County
- Noxubee County
- Winston County
- Greene County
- Pickens County
- Sumter County
- 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 Townsend, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Townsend) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |