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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 Flatwoods (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 Flatwoods. 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 Flatwoods ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

Another variation: Flat Woods.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Flatwoods. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Flatwoods.

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 ...

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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Flatwoods is located in Perry 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 Perry County: Benton, Decatur, Hickman, Humphreys, Lewis & Wayne.

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

  • Perry County     (The home county of Flatwoods)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Flatwoods, with the one closest to Flatwoods listed first.
    • Linden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Beardstown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Mousetail ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Mousetail is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mousetail
    • Lobelville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Decatur County
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Flatwoods, with the one closest to Flatwoods listed first.
    • Johnson Ford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Johnson Ford is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Ford
      • Estimated population in 2014: 65,813 people
    • Swift
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Swift is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5,874 people
    • Smiths Fork ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Smiths Fork is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths Fork
    • Saltillo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Centerview
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Centerview is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
      • Estimated population in 2014: 244 people
    • Paulks ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Paulks is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paulks
    • Sibley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Belle Meade
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Belle Meade is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Meade
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,017 people
    • New Town
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • New Town is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
    • Lowryville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Savannah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Henderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Flatwoods, with the one closest to Flatwoods listed first.
    • Darden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Darden is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darden
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 399 people
    • Cedar Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Sardis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Chesterfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Poplar Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Poplar Springs is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
    • Reagan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Hickman County
  • Humphreys County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Flatwoods, with the one closest to Flatwoods listed first.
    • Grandmother Ford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Grandmother Ford is located in Humphreys County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandmother Ford
      • Estimated population in 2014: 307 people
    • Buffalo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Lawrence County
  • Lewis County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Flatwoods, with the one closest to Flatwoods listed first.
    • Slickrock Ford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Slickrock Ford is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickrock Ford
      • Estimated population in 2014: 179 people
    • Ashland Ford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Ashland Ford is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Ford
      • Estimated population in 2014: 4,674 people
    • Waynesboro
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Clifton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sorby ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Sorby is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorby
    • Collinwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Lutts
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Whittens Stand ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Whittens Stand is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittens Stand
    • Corning ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Corning is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,210 people

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

Cemeteries Near Flatwoods ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Flatwoods.

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

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

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

  • Chappell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Flatwoods Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Bromley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Sharp Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Henry Culp Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Little Hope Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Crossno Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Riley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Merideth Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Pitts Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (846 more) ...
    • Whitehead Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Burns Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Popes Chapel Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)

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.<4>

While we didn't find Flatwoods in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Flatwoods.

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

  • Horner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Horner is located in Perry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horner
  • New Era ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • New Era is located in Perry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
  • Linden
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Clifton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Waynesboro
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sorby ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Sorby is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorby
  • Nancy ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Nancy is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy
  • Pope
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Pope is located in Perry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope
  • Pleasantville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasantville is located in Hickman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
  • Bath Springs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Voorhies
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Perryville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Perryville is located in Decatur County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perryville
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Flatwoods ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Flatwoods.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Flatwoods, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Flatwoods.

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 Flatwoods:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Flatwoods) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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>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 Flatwoods, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.