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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 Oakland (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 Oakland. 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.

Oakland is located in Henry 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 Henry County: Calloway (KY), Graves (KY), Benton, Carroll, Stewart & Weakley.

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

  • Henry County     (The home county of Oakland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • India
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • India is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for India
    • Manleyville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Springville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Spring Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Spring Creek is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,009 people
    • Paris
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Mount Vista ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Mount Vista is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vista
    • Whitlock
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Haglerville ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Haglerville is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haglerville
    • Mandels ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Mandels is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandels
      • Estimated population in 2014: 10,349 people
    • Henry
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Conyersville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • New Boston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Benton County
  • Carroll County
  • Houston County
  • Humphreys County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Halls Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Halls Creek is located in Humphreys County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Creek
    • Trinity
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Trinity is located in Humphreys County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
      • Estimated population in 2014: 625 people
    • New Johnsonville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Hustburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Plant
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pigeon Roost
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Pigeon Roost is located in Humphreys County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon Roost
      • Estimated population in 2014: 6,132 people
    • Waverly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bakerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Stewart County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Dover
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Snider
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Weakley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Tumbling
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Ore Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Dunlap ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Dunlap is located in Weakley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5,068 people
    • Gleason
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Dresden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Pillowville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Pillowville is located in Weakley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillowville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,625 people
    • Latham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Calloway County (KY)
  • Graves County (KY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Bell City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Bell City is located in Graves County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
    • Lynnville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Tri City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Tri City is located in Graves County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tri City

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

Cemeteries Near Oakland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oakland.

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

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

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

  • Vaughn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Bethesda Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • New Bethel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Hicks Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Bowers Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Nichols Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Travis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Sunny Side Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Wright Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Ralls Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Whitehead Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Manleys Chapel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (1117 more) ...
    • Manteys Chapel Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hill Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Rowden Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 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.<3>

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

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

  • Porters ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Porters is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porters
  • Manleyville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • India
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • India is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for India
  • Springville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Elkhorn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Elkhorn is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Paris
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Mansfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mansfield is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield
  • Mount Vista ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Vista is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vista
  • Big Sandy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Haglerville ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Haglerville is located in Henry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haglerville
  • Whitlock
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Mixie
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mixie is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mixie
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Osage
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Osage is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage
    • Carnsville ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Carnsville is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnsville
    • Conyersville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Oakland ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakland.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oakland, 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 Oakland.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Oakland:

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 Oakland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Oakland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.