Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Bethel. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Bethel to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Bethel, please Contact Us.
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 Bethel (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 Bethel. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Bethel is historic, it would have been located within present day Obion 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 Obion County: Fulton (KY), Dyer, Gibson, Lake & Weakley.
Below are the counties that are near Bethel. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bethel:
- Obion County (The home county of Bethel)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Hornbeak
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Samburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Obion
(10 miles [16.1 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
- Englewood
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Englewood is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,532 people
- Troy
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Rives
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Rives is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rives
- Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
- Woodland Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Woodland Mills is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Mills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- Union City
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Kenton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Kenton is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,190 people
- Pierce Station
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pierce Station is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce Station
- McConnell
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- McConnell is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McConnell
- South Fulton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Crockett County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Elizabeth
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Elizabeth is located in Crockett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
- Estimated population in 2014: 14,271 people
- Friendship
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Friendship is located in Crockett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Population from the 2020 Census: 660 people
- Dyer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Bogota
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bogota is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogota
- Trimble
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Trimble is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
- Population from the 2020 Census: 602 people
- Meacham
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Meacham is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meacham
- Newbern
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Churchton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Churchton is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchton
- Estimated population in 2014: 6,752 people
- Dyersburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Finley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Finley is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finley
- Estimated population in 2014: 299 people
- Middle City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Middle City is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle City
- Boothspoint
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Boothspoint is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boothspoint
- Bishop
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Bishop is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
- Tatumville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Tatumville is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tatumville
- Mengelwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mengelwood is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mengelwood
- Estimated population in 2014: 656,861 people
- Ayers
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ayers is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers
- Gibson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Tilghman
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Tilghman is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilghman
- Yorkville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Yorkville is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
- Rutherford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Dyer
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Owl City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Owl City is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owl City
- Sunkist Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Sunkist Beach is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunkist Beach
- Estimated population in 2014: 547 people
- Tiptonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ridgely
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Proctor City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Proctor City is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor City
- New Markham
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- New Markham is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Markham
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,354 people
- Powells Ferry
(18 miles [29 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
- Lauderdale County
- Halls
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Weakley County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Terrell
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Terrell is located in Weakley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrell
- Sidonia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Sidonia is located in Weakley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidonia
- Martin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sharon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Fulton County (KY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Hickman
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jordan
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jordan is located in Fulton County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
- Cayce
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Cayce is located in Fulton County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayce
- Fulton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hickman County (KY)
- Moscow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Moscow is located in Hickman County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Mississippi County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Pinhook
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Pinhook is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinhook
- Estimated population in 2012: 30 people
- Wolf Island
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Wolf Island is located in Mississippi County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Island
- New Madrid County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Point Pleasant
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Point Pleasant is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
- Conran
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Conran is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conran
- Marston
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Portageville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Howardville
(21 miles [33.8 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
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lilbourn
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- North Lilbourn
(24 miles [38.6 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
- La Forge
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- La Forge is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Forge
- Kewanee
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Kewanee is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kewanee
- Catron
(27 miles [43.5 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
- Tallapoosa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Tallapoosa is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallapoosa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
- Risco
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Risco is located in New Madrid County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Risco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Risco <2>
- Pemiscot County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Stewart
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Stewart is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
- Hayward
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Hayward is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
- Caruthersville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Netherlands
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Netherlands is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Netherlands
- Hayti
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- 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 <2>
- Hayti Heights
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hayti Heights is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayti Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
- Homestown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Homestown is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
- North Wardell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- North Wardell is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wardell
- Wardell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Wardell is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 354 people
- Pascola
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Pascola is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pascola
- Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
- Braggadocio
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Braggadocio is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braggadocio
- Bragg City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Bragg City is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragg City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
- Deering
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Deering is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deering
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bethel, see our County-by-County Page for Bethel.
Cemeteries Near Bethel ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bethel.
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 Bethel - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bethel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Long Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Crockett Chapel UMC Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- New Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Thompson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Ridge Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hornbeak Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Burrus Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Keefe Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Cunningham Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Obion Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Cobbs Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Davis Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (355 more) ...
- Madie Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- New Haven Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Zion Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
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.
While we didn't find Bethel in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bethel.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Hornbeak
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Elbridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Elbridge is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbridge
- Samburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Ridgely
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Glass
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Glass is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass
- Tiptonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lane
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Lane is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane
- Protemus
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Protemus is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Protemus
- Obion
(10 miles [16.1 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
- Troy
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Clayton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Clayton is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Trimble
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Trimble is located in Dyer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
- Population from the 2020 Census: 602 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Fremont
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fremont is located in Obion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
- Kennedy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Kennedy is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
- Bessie
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bessie is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bessie
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bethel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bethel.
Newspapers Published in Bethel ...
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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bethel.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bethel, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bethel.
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 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 Bethel:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Obion County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Crockett County
- Dyer County
- Gibson County
- Lake County
- Lauderdale County
- Weakley County
- Fulton County
- Hickman County
- Mississippi County
- New Madrid County
- Pemiscot County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Tennessee
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bethel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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- Bethel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |