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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 Sewanee (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 Sewanee. 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.

Sewanee is located in Franklin 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 Franklin County: Jackson (AL), Madison (AL), Coffee, Grundy, Lincoln, Marion & Moore.

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

  • Franklin County     (The home county of Sewanee)
  • Bedford County
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sewanee, with the one closest to Sewanee listed first.
    • Ruthledge Ford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Ruthledge Ford is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruthledge Ford
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,116 people
    • Stephenson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Hillsboro
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Winton Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Winton Town is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winton Town
    • Belmont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Southgate Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Southgate Park is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southgate Park
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,284 people
    • Royal Oaks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Tullahoma
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Homaway Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Homaway Village is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homaway Village
    • Manchester
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Forest Mill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • New Union
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • New Union is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Union
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,431 people
    • Teal ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Teal is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teal
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sewanee, with the one closest to Sewanee listed first.
    • Monteagle
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Pelham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Sartain Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Sartain Springs is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartain Springs
      • Estimated population in 2014: 380 people
    • Lankford Town
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Lankford Town is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lankford Town
    • Tracy City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • White City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • White City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Coalmont
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Coalmont is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 842 people
    • Altamont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Gruetli
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Gruetli is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gruetli
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,775 people
    • Gruetli - Laager
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Beersheba Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Beersheba Springs is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beersheba Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
    • Palmer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sewanee, with the one closest to Sewanee listed first.
    • Gattistown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Gattistown is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gattistown
      • Estimated population in 2014: 4,158 people
    • Flintville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Marion County
  • Moore County
  • Sequatchie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sewanee, with the one closest to Sewanee listed first.
    • Cartwright
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Daus
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Warren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sewanee, with the one closest to Sewanee listed first.
    • Viola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Morrison
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Jackson County (AL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sewanee, with the one closest to Sewanee listed first.
    • Copenhagen ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Copenhagen is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copenhagen
    • Bridgeport
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Bridgeport is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,272 people
      • Former name for Bridgeport:
      • Jonesville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgeport <1>
    • Narrows ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Narrows is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narrows
    • Long Island
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Greerton ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Greerton is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greerton
    • Rash
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Browns Valley ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Browns Valley is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
    • Hytop
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hytop is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hytop
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 412 people
    • Haynes Crossing
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • New Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • New Town is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
    • Stevenson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Francisco
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Bryant
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Dade County (GA)
    • Cole City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cole City is located in Dade County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cole City
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 127 people

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

Cemeteries Near Sewanee ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sewanee.

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

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

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

  • University Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Eastern Star Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • O'Dear Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • St. Andrews Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Long Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Sewell - Bowers Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Ives Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Wise Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Cherry Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Harrison Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (888 more) ...
    • Gipson Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Henley Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Dotson 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 Sewanee had a population of 428 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2010, Sewanee had a population of 2,311 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Sewanee ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sewanee.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Sewanee. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Sewanee and those printed in the larger area surrounding Sewanee.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3> of Sewanee.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Sewanee:

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 Sewanee, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sewanee) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.