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 Bessie (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 Bessie. 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 hospitals 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.
Bessie is located in Lake County.
To see how the shape of Tennessee's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lake County: Fulton (KY), New Madrid (MO), Pemiscot (MO), Dyer & Obion.
Below are the counties that are near Bessie. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bessie:
- Lake County (The home county of Bessie)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- New Markham
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- New Markham is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Markham
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,354 people
- Proctor City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Proctor City is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor City
- Tiptonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sunkist Beach
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Sunkist Beach is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunkist Beach
- Estimated population in 2014: 547 people
- Owl City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Owl City is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owl City
- Ridgely
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Powells Ferry
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Powells Ferry is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powells Ferry
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,319 people
- Dyer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Bogota
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bogota is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogota
- Meacham
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Meacham is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meacham
- Boothspoint
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Boothspoint is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boothspoint
- Trimble
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Trimble is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
- Population from the 2020 Census: 602 people
- Ayers
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Ayers is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers
- Newbern
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mengelwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Mengelwood is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mengelwood
- Estimated population in 2014: 656,861 people
- Obion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Samburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hornbeak
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Englewood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Englewood is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,532 people
- Woodland Mills
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Woodland Mills is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Mills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- Troy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Obion
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Obion is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obion
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,043 people
- Union City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Rives
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Rives is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rives
- Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
- Fulton County (KY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Hickman
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Jordan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Jordan is located in Fulton County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
- Cayce
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Cayce is located in Fulton County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayce
- Hickman County (KY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Moscow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Moscow is located in Hickman County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Columbus
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Columbus is located in Hickman County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
- Clinton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Dunklin County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Clarkton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Clarkton is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,139 people
- Malden
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Wrightsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Wrightsville is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsville
- Sumach
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sumach is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumach
- Gibson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Gibson is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson
- Holcomb
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Pine City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Pine City is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
- Mississippi County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- East Prairie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Pinhook
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pinhook is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinhook
- Estimated population in 2012: 30 people
- Whiting
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Whiting is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiting
- Wolf Island
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Wolf Island is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Island
- Anniston
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Anniston is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anniston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- Thirtyfour Corner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Thirtyfour Corner is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thirtyfour Corner
- Bertrand
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Bertrand is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertrand
- Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
- New Madrid County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Point Pleasant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Point Pleasant is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
- Marston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Howardville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Howardville is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 329 people
- New Madrid
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Conran
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Conran is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conran
- Lilbourn
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- North Lilbourn
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- North Lilbourn is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lilbourn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
- Portageville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- La Forge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- La Forge is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Forge
- Kewanee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Kewanee is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kewanee
- Catron
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Catron is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catron
- Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
- Ogden
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Ogden is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogden
- Pemiscot County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Stewart
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Stewart is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
- Hayward
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hayward is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
- Netherlands
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Netherlands is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Netherlands
- North Wardell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- North Wardell is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wardell
- Wardell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Wardell is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 354 people
- Homestown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Homestown is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
- Caruthersville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hayti
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hayti is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayti
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,467 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayti <1>
- Hayti Heights
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Hayti Heights is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayti Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
- Pascola
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Pascola is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pascola
- Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
- Peach Orchard
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Peach Orchard is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Orchard
- Bragg City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bragg City is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragg City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Scott County (MO)
- Miner
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Miner is located in Scott County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miner
- Population from the 2020 Census: 939 people
- Stoddard County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- LaValle
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- LaValle is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaValle
- Baker
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Baker is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
- Population from the 2010 Census: 3 people
- Grayridge
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Grayridge is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayridge
- Penermon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Penermon is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penermon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
- Bernie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Circle City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Circle City is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Circle City
- Essex
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Essex is located in Stoddard County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex
- Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bessie, see our County-by-County Page for Bessie.
Cemeteries Near Bessie ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bessie.
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 Bessie - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bessie covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Madrid Bend Families Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Adams Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Cronanville Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Robbins Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Yount Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Le Sieur Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Le Sieur Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Girvin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Riddles Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Free Will Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Buckelew Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Fulton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (237 more) ...
- Newbauer Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Haubold Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Reeder Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Bessie had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bessie, with the one closest to Bessie listed first.
- Point Pleasant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Point Pleasant is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
- Tiptonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- New Madrid
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Stewart
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Stewart is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
- Samburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Portageville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hayward
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hayward is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
- Ristine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Ristine is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ristine
- La Forge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- La Forge is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Forge
- Clayton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Clayton is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Ridgely
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Hornbeak
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Protemus
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Protemus is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Protemus
- Kennedy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Kennedy is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
- Como
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Como is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Como
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bessie. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bessie.
Newspapers Published in Bessie ...
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 Bessie.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bessie, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bessie.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Bessie:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Lake County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Dyer County
- Obion County
- Fulton County
- Hickman County
- Dunklin County
- Mississippi County
- New Madrid County
- Pemiscot County
- Scott County
- Stoddard County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Tennessee
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> | 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 Bessie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bessie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |