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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 Fort Pillow (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 Fort Pillow. 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 Fort Pillow ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Fort Pillow: Ft. Pillow

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Fort Pillow is located in Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale County: Mississippi (AR), Crockett, Dyer, Haywood & Tipton.

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

  • Lauderdale County     (The home county of Fort Pillow)
  • Crockett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Pillow, with the one closest to Fort Pillow listed first.
    • Chestnut Bluff
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Maury City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Maury City is located in Crockett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maury City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 653 people
  • Dyer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Pillow, with the one closest to Fort Pillow listed first.
    • Unionville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Richwoods
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mengelwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Bruceville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bruceville is located in Dyer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruceville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,453 people
    • Ayers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Ayers is located in Dyer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers
    • Finley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Fowlkes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Middle City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Middle City is located in Dyer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle City
  • Fayette County
  • Hancock County
  • Haywood County
  • Shelby County
  • Tipton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Pillow, with the one closest to Fort Pillow listed first.
    • Bride
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Garland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Garland is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
    • Walnut Grove
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
    • Detroit
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Burlison
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Covington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Gilt Edge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Brighton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Gift
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Gift is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gift
      • Estimated population in 2014: 378 people
    • Mount Carmel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Carmel is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carmel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5,453 people
    • Randolph
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Clopton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Clopton is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopton
      • Estimated population in 2014: 9,889 people
  • Mississippi County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Pillow, with the one closest to Fort Pillow listed first.
    • Luxora
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Luxora is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luxora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,007 people
    • Osceola
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Burdette
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Driver
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Driver is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Driver
    • Barfield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Armorel
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Armorel is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armorel
    • Victoria
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Victoria is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32 people
    • Wilson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Wilson is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 803 people
    • Keiser
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Keiser is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keiser
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 663 people
    • Marie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Marie is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 70 people
    • Blytheville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Dell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Pemiscot County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Pillow, with the one closest to Fort Pillow listed first.
    • Cooter
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Cooter is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cooter <1>
    • Holland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Holland is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
    • Steele
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Steele is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,853 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steele <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Fort Pillow ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fort Pillow.

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 Fort Pillow - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fort Pillow had a population of 50 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Mack
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Mack is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
  • Bride
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Garland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Garland is located in Tipton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
  • Detroit
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Glimp
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Glimp is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glimp
  • Burlison
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Ashport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Golddust
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Golddust is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golddust
  • Fulton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Covington
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Rialto
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Rialto is located in Tipton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rialto
  • Lightfoot
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lightfoot is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lightfoot
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Fort Pillow ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Pillow.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fort Pillow, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fort Pillow.

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 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 Fort Pillow:

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>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- Fort Pillow) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Fort Pillow, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.