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 Topsy (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 Topsy. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.
Topsy is located in Wayne 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 Wayne County: Lauderdale (AL), Decatur, Hardin, Lawrence, Lewis & Perry.
Below are the counties that are near Topsy. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Topsy:
- Wayne County (The home county of Topsy)
- The following are listed by their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Slickrock Ford
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Slickrock Ford is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickrock Ford
- Estimated population in 2014: 179 people
- Ashland Ford
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Ashland Ford is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Ford
- Estimated population in 2014: 4,674 people
- Waynesboro
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sorby ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Sorby is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorby
- Clifton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Collinwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Collinwood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 932 people
- Corning ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Corning is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,210 people
- Lutts
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Whittens Stand ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Whittens Stand is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittens Stand
- Cypress Inn
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cypress Inn is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Inn
- Decatur County
- The following are listed by their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Mount Lebanon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Lebanon is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Lebanon
- Estimated population in 2014: 29,387 people
- Dunbar
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Dunbar is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunbar
- Decaturville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Estimated population in 2014: 566 people
- Parsons
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oakview ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Oakview is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakview
- Giles County
- Liberty Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Liberty Hill is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
- Hardin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Johnson Ford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Johnson Ford is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Ford
- Estimated population in 2014: 65,813 people
- Smiths Fork ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Smiths Fork is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths Fork
- Swift
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Swift is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
- Estimated population in 2014: 5,874 people
- Centerview
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Centerview is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
- Estimated population in 2014: 244 people
- Saltillo
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Saltillo is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltillo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 521 people
- Paulks ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Paulks is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paulks
- Hickman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Pleasantville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Pleasantville is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Hornertown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Hornertown is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornertown
- Estimated population in 2014: 412 people
- Aetna
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Aetna is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
- Whitfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Whitfield is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitfield
- Swan Bluff
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Swan Bluff is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Bluff
- Centerville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Only
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Graytown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Graytown is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graytown
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,528 people
- Humphreys County
- Grandmother Ford
(29 miles [46.7 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
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Henryville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Henryville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henryville
- Park Grove
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Park Grove is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Grove
- Flatwoods
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Flatwoods is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
- Westpoint
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Westpoint is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westpoint
- Ethridge
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Webber City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Webber City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webber City
- Lawrenceburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Busby
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Busby is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
- Leoma
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Iron City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Iron City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
- Loretto
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- New Prospect
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Prospect is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Prospect
- Estimated population in 2014: 6,880 people
- Saint Joseph
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lewis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Voorhies
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Voorhies is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,476 people
- Hohenwald
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmins
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmins is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmins
- Maury County
- The following are listed by their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Hampshire
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jonesboro ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Jonesboro is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
- Estimated population in 2014: 5,238 people
- Enterprise
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Enterprise is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Mount Pleasant
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Chapel Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Chapel Hill is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,461 people
- Frierson Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Frierson Town is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frierson Town
- Estimated population in 2014: 923 people
- Screamer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Screamer is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamer
- Greenfield Bend
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Greenfield Bend is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Bend
- Estimated population in 2014: 15,035 people
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Flatwoods
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Linden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Beardstown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Beardstown is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardstown
- Lobelville
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Mousetail ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mousetail is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mousetail
- Lauderdale County (AL)
- Pruitton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Pruitton is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pruitton
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Topsy, see our County-by-County Page for Topsy.
Cemeteries Near Topsy ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Topsy.
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 Topsy - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Topsy covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Salem Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Choate Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Old Whitehead Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Whitehead Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Zion Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Walker Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Durham Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Skelton Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Burns Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hollabaugh Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Burns Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Popes Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (904 more) ...
- Whitehead Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pitts Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Phillips Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
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>
While we didn't find Topsy in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Topsy.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Topsy, with the one closest to Topsy listed first.
- Nancy ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Nancy is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy
- Waynesboro
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Voorhies
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Voorhies is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,476 people
- Strathmore ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Strathmore is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strathmore
- Hohenwald
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Napier
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Napier is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napier
- Sorby ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Sorby is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorby
- Horner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Horner is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horner
- Linden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Moon ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Moon is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon
- Kimmins
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmins is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmins
- Pleasantville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Pleasantville is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- New Era ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- New Era is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
- Clifton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Houston
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Houston is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Topsy. See our List of 1890's Communities around Topsy.
Newspapers Published in Topsy ...
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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Topsy.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Topsy, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Topsy.
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 Topsy:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Wayne County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Decatur County
- Giles County
- Hardin County
- Hickman County
- Humphreys County
- Lawrence County
- Lewis County
- Maury County
- Perry County
- Lauderdale County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Tennessee
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 Topsy, 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 from Point A (ie- Topsy) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |