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 Wilsons Ferry (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 Wilsons Ferry. 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 Wilsons Ferry ...
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.
While the name of this community is Wilsons Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wilsons Ferry may originally have been Wilson's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wilsons Ferry might be written as Wilson Ferry.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Wilsons Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wilsons Ferry.
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/Parishes ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.
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/parishes 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/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Wilsons Ferry is located in Amite 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 Amite County: East Feliciana (LA), Saint Helena (LA), Tangipahoa (LA), Franklin, Lincoln, Pike & Wilkinson.
Below are the counties/parishes that are near Wilsons Ferry. For each of these counties/parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wilsons Ferry:
- Amite County (The home county of Wilsons Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Crosby
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- O'Neil
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- O'Neil is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Neil
- Gloster
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Bewelcome
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bewelcome is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bewelcome
- Brookside
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Brookside is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Liberty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Liberty is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 634 people
- Mount Olive
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Mount Olive is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
- Thompson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Thompson is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
- Glading
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Glading is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glading
- McElveen
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- McElveen is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McElveen
- Huron
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Huron is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
- Adams County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Jeannette
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jeannette is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeannette
- Washington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Washington is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington
- Selma
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Selma is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Cloverdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Cloverdale is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Natchez
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Carthage
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Carthage is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Garden City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Garden City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Knoxville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Knoxville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
- White Apple
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- White Apple is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Apple
- Roxie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Meadville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Bude
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hamburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hamburg is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
- Eddiceton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Eddiceton is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddiceton
- McCall Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Fayette
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Harriston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Wilkinson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Rosetta
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rosetta is located in Wilkinson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosetta
- Wilkinson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Wilkinson is located in Wilkinson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkinson
- Centreville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Whitaker
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Whitaker is located in Wilkinson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitaker
- Woodville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Turnbull
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Turnbull is located in Wilkinson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbull
- Concordia Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Vidalia
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Fairview
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Fairview is located in Concordia Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- East Feliciana Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Norwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Norwood is located in East Feliciana Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwood <2>
- Troy ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Troy is located in East Feliciana Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
- Wilson
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Wilson is located in East Feliciana Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 546 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilson <2>
- Woodland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Woodland is located in East Feliciana Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
- West Feliciana Parish (LA)
- Rogillioville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Rogillioville is located in West Feliciana Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogillioville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wilsons Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Wilsons Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Wilsons Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wilsons Ferry.
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 Wilsons Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wilsons Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Freewoods Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Huff Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mt. Nebo Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Williams Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Berryhill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Royal Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Crosby Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- McDowell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Campbellite Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wesley Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hammack Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Butler Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (641 more) ...
- Crosby Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- McDowell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lusk Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Wilsons Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wilsons Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wilsons Ferry, with the one closest to Wilsons Ferry listed first.
- Rosetta
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rosetta is located in Wilkinson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosetta
- Coles
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Coles is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles
- Knoxville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Knoxville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
- Garden City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Garden City is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- White Apple
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- White Apple is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Apple
- Darrington
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Darrington is located in Wilkinson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darrington
- Gloster
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- O'Neil
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- O'Neil is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Neil
- Roxie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Bewelcome
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bewelcome is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bewelcome
- Wilkinson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Wilkinson is located in Wilkinson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkinson
- Tatum
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Tatum is located in Amite County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tatum
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Orange
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Orange is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Meadville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Kingston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Kingston is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wilsons Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wilsons Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Wilsons Ferry ...
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 126 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wilsons Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wilsons Ferry, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wilsons Ferry.
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 Wilsons Ferry:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Amite County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Adams County
- Franklin County
- Jefferson County
- Wilkinson County
- Concordia Parish
- East Feliciana Parish
- West Feliciana Parish
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Mississippi
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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 Wilsons Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wilsons Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |