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 Willowtown (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 Willowtown. 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 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.
Willowtown is located in Covington 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 Covington County: Forrest, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Simpson & Smith.
Below are the counties that are near Willowtown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Willowtown:
- Covington County (The home county of Willowtown)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Kola
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Kola is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kola
- Collins
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Seminary
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hot Coffee
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Hot Coffee is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Coffee
- Williamsburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Williamsburg is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
- Sanford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Sanford is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
- Arbo
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Arbo is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbo
- Lux
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Lux is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
- Mount Olive
(14 miles [22.5 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 Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Hattiesburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Petal
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Goodluck
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Goodluck is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
- Jasper County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Stringer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Moss
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Moss is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss
- Moss has also been known as:
- Mossville
- Bay Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Vernon ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Vernon is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Lake Como
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Como is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Como
- Stevens ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Stevens is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevens
- Acme ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Acme is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Hamlet ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hamlet is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
- Jefferson Davis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Melba
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Melba is located in Jefferson Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melba
- Bassfield
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Bassfield is located in Jefferson Davis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Prentiss
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Jones County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Soso
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Soso is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soso
- Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
- Ellisville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Amy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Amy is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amy
- Service
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Service is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Service
- Laurel
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Antioch
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Antioch is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
- Errata
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Errata is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Errata
- Ovett
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ovett is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovett
- Sandersville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- 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 Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Sumrall
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- West Hattiesburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Grange ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Grange is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange
- New Hebron
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Marion County
- Goss
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Goss is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
- Simpson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Coats
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Coats is located in Simpson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coats
- Jaynesville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Jaynesville is located in Simpson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaynesville
- Magee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Sanatorium
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sanatorium is located in Simpson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanatorium
- Smith County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Taylorsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Mize
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Mineral Springs
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Mineral Springs is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Bezer
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Bezer is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bezer
- Sylvarena
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Sylvarena is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvarena
- Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
- Raleigh
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Willowtown, see our County-by-County Page for Willowtown.
Cemeteries Near Willowtown ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willowtown.
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 Willowtown - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Willowtown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Willow Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Williamson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Speed Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Speed Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Geiger Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Big Lane Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Watts Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Moscos Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Eminence Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Eminence Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Kola Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Moore Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (605 more) ...
- Lebanon Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Kelly Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Leaf River Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
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.<4>
While we didn't find Willowtown in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willowtown.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Willowtown, with the one closest to Willowtown listed first.
- Moscos
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Moscos is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscos
- Ora
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Ora is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
- Williamsburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Williamsburg is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
- Bunker Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Bunker Hill is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
- Gitano
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Gitano is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gitano
- Taylorsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Moselle
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Moselle is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselle
- Soso
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Soso is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soso
- Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
- Mount Olive
(14 miles [22.5 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
- Mize
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Ellisville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Amy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Amy is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amy
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Eastabuchie
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Eastabuchie is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastabuchie
- Jaynesville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Jaynesville is located in Simpson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaynesville
- Laurel
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Willowtown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willowtown.
Newspapers Published in Willowtown ...
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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willowtown.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willowtown, 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 Willowtown.
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 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 Willowtown:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Covington County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Forrest County
- Jasper County
- Jefferson Davis County
- Jones County
- Lamar County
- Lawrence County
- Marion County
- Simpson County
- Smith 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> | 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Willowtown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Willowtown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |