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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 Elba (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 Elba. 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 and 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.

Elba is located in Fayette 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 Fayette County: Benton (MS), Marshall (MS), Hardeman, Haywood, Shelby & Tipton.

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

  • Fayette County     (The home county of Elba)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elba, with the one closest to Elba listed first.
    • New Bethel
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • New Bethel is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bethel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,324 people
    • Canadaville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Rossville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Macon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Piperton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Piperton is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piperton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,128 people
    • Oakland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hickory Withe
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Hickory Withe is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Withe
    • Moscow
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Williston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Williston is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
    • Feathers Chapel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Feathers Chapel is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Feathers Chapel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 7,102 people
    • Gallaway
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Forty Five
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Somerville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Hancock County
  • Hardeman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elba, with the one closest to Elba listed first.
    • Newcastle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Hickory Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Saulsbury
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Saulsbury is located in Hardeman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saulsbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 90 people
    • Whiteville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Haywood County
  • Shelby County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elba, with the one closest to Elba listed first.
    • Collierville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bailey
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Cordova
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Forest Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Arlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Germantown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bartlett
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Parkway Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Parkway Village is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkway Village
    • Spring Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Lake is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
      • Estimated population in 2014: 34,269 people
    • Capleville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Capleville is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capleville
    • The Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • The Village is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village
    • Oakville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Tipton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elba, with the one closest to Elba listed first.
    • Gainesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Gainesville is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gainesville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 958 people
    • Mason
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Gailor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Gailor is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gailor
      • Estimated population in 2014: 468 people
    • Idaville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Clopton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Clopton is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopton
      • Estimated population in 2014: 9,889 people
    • Atoka
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Charleston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Charleston is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
      • Estimated population in 2014: 671 people
    • Mount Carmel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Mount Carmel is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carmel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5,453 people
    • Munford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Brighton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Wilkinsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gift
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Gift is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gift
      • Estimated population in 2014: 378 people
    • Drummonds
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Benton County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elba, with the one closest to Elba listed first.
    • Michigan City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Snow Lake Shores
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Snow Lake Shores is located in Benton County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Lake Shores
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
    • Canaan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • DeSoto County (MS)
  • Marshall County (MS)

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

Cemeteries Near Elba ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elba.

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

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

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

  • Hunter Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Jenkins Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Blain Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Moore Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Harrell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Warr Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Warr Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Stone Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • New Bethel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Pulliam Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Mebane Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Jenkins Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (512 more) ...
    • Yancy Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Anthony Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Farwell Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Elba had a population of 17 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Elba ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elba.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Elba, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Elba.

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 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 Elba:

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