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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 Smyly (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 Smyly. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Smyly is located in Colleton County.

To see how the shape of South Carolina's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Colleton County: Allendale, Bamberg, Beaufort, Charleston, Dorchester, Hampton & Orangeburg.

Below are the counties that are near Smyly. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smyly:

  • Colleton County     (The home county of Smyly)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyly, with the one closest to Smyly listed first.
    • Ruffin
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Williams
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Smoaks
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Johnsville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Johnsville is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsville
    • Lodge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Canadys
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Sniders Crossroads
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Sniders Crossroads is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sniders Crossroads
    • Ashton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Ashton is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
    • Walterboro
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Islandton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sidney
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Sidney is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
    • Drigger Crossroads
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Drigger Crossroads is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drigger Crossroads
    • Drawdy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Drawdy is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawdy
  • Allendale County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyly, with the one closest to Smyly listed first.
    • Sycamore
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Ulmer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Fairfax
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Allendale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Bamberg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyly, with the one closest to Smyly listed first.
    • Ehrhardt
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bamberg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Olar
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Olar is located in Bamberg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olar
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olar <1>
    • Govan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Govan is located in Bamberg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Govan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
    • Denmark
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Beaufort County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyly, with the one closest to Smyly listed first.
    • Yemassee
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Tomotley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Tomotley is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomotley
    • Sheldon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Charleston County
    • Canady Landing ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Canady Landing is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canady Landing
  • Dorchester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyly, with the one closest to Smyly listed first.
    • Grover
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Reevesville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint George
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Harleyville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Dorchester
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Ridgeville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Hampton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyly, with the one closest to Smyly listed first.
    • Miley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Crocketville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Early Branch
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Varnville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hampton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pond Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Pond Town is located in Hampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Town
    • Barkerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Barkerville is located in Hampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barkerville
      • Barkerville has also been known as:
      • Haywardville
    • Brunson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Gifford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Luray
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Orangeburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyly, with the one closest to Smyly listed first.
    • Branchville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Sixty Six
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Sixty Six is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixty Six
    • Bowman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Rowesville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Cope
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Cope is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cope
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 70 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cope <1>
    • Cordova
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Holly Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Wells
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Wells is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells

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

Cemeteries Near Smyly ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smyly.

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

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

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

  • Smyly Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Ruffin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Warren - Key Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Colonel Joseph Risher Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Strickland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Sykes Savannah UMC Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • John Herndon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Smoaks Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Field Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (200 more) ...
    • Tabor Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Smith Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Ashton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Ashton is located in Colleton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
  • Islandton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Walterboro
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Miley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Fifty Eight ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Fifty Eight is located in Orangeburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fifty Eight
  • Drawdy
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Drawdy is located in Colleton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawdy
  • Reevesville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Branchville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Hendersonville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Hendersonville is located in Colleton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendersonville
  • Crocketville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Ritter
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Ritter is located in Colleton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritter
  • Almeda
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Almeda is located in Hampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almeda
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Cummings
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Cummings is located in Hampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings
    • Cottageville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Sixty Six
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Sixty Six is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixty Six

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

Newspapers Published in Smyly ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smyly.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smyly, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smyly.

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 helpful 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 Smyly:

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 Smyly, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Smyly) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.