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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 Ripley (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 Ripley. 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 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.

Ripley is located in Lauderdale County and is the County Seat.

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 Ripley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ripley:

  • Lauderdale County     (The home county of Ripley)
  • Crockett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ripley, with the one closest to Ripley listed first.
    • Chestnut Bluff
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Maury City
      (17 miles [27.4 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
    • Johnsons Grove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Friendship
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Maury Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Maury Junction is located in Crockett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maury Junction
      • Estimated population in 2014: 679 people
    • Crockett Mills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Alamo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Elizabeth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Elizabeth is located in Crockett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
      • Estimated population in 2014: 14,271 people
    • Bells
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Fruitvale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Gadsden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Gadsden is located in Crockett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gadsden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 468 people
  • Dyer County
  • Fayette County
  • Gibson County
  • Hancock County
  • Haywood County
  • Madison County
  • Shelby County
  • Tipton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ripley, with the one closest to Ripley listed first.
    • Gift
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Gift is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gift
      • Estimated population in 2014: 378 people
    • Bride
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Covington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Garland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Garland is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
    • Charleston
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Charleston is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
      • Estimated population in 2014: 671 people
    • Walnut Grove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
    • Mount Carmel
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Mount Carmel is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carmel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5,453 people
    • Burlison
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Detroit
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Clopton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Clopton is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopton
      • Estimated population in 2014: 9,889 people
    • Gailor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Gailor is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gailor
      • Estimated population in 2014: 468 people
    • Brighton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gilt Edge
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mississippi County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ripley, with the one closest to Ripley listed first.
    • Barfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Armorel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Armorel is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armorel
    • Luxora
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Luxora is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luxora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,007 people
    • Burdette
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Blytheville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Osceola
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Gosnell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Gosnell is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gosnell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,066 people
    • Driver
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Driver is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Driver
    • Dell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Victoria
      (29 miles [46.7 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
  • Pemiscot County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ripley, with the one closest to Ripley listed first.
    • Cooter
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • 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 northwest)
      • 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 northwest)
      • 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 Ripley, see our County-by-County Page for Ripley.

Cemeteries Near Ripley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ripley.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ripley, with the one closest to Ripley 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 Ripley had a population of 682 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Ripley had a population of 7,624 people.

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

  • Flippin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Henning
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Durhamville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Woodville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Curve
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Curve is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curve
  • Abernathy ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Abernathy is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernathy
  • Toulon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Lightfoot
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lightfoot is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lightfoot
  • Edith
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Glimp
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Glimp is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glimp
  • Nutbush
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Dry Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Dry Hill is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Hill
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Orysa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Orysa is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orysa
    • Forked Deer
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Forked Deer is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forked Deer
    • Rialto
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rialto is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rialto

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ripley ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ripley.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ripley. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ripley and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ripley.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3> of Ripley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Ripley:

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 '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- Ripley) 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 Ripley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.