Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Wills. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Wills to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Wills, please Contact Us.
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 Wills (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 Wills. 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 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Wills is historic, it would have been located within present day Lawrence 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 Lawrence County: Lauderdale (AL), Giles, Lewis, Maury & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Wills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wills:
- Lawrence County (The home county of Wills)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- Liberty Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Liberty Grove is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Estimated population in 2014: 7,825 people
- Rascal Town
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Rascal Town is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rascal Town
- Appleton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Appleton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Busby
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Busby is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
- Loretto
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Leoma
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Saint Joseph
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Fall River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fall River is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Westpoint
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Westpoint is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westpoint
- New Prospect
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- New Prospect is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Prospect
- Estimated population in 2014: 6,880 people
- Iron City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Iron City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
- Lawrenceburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Flatwoods
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Flatwoods is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
- Giles County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- Minor Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Minor Hill is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
- Stella
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Stella is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Anthony Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Anthony Hill is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthony Hill
- Bodenham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bodenham is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bodenham
- Green Field
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Green Field is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Field
- Weakley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Weakley is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weakley
- Prospect
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Gordon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Gordon is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,192 people
- Pulaski
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Wales
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Wales is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wales
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,031 people
- Liberty Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Liberty Hill is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
- Aymett Town
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Aymett Town is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aymett Town
- Campbellsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Campbellsville is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbellsville
- Lewis County
- Voorhies
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Voorhies is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,476 people
- Lincoln County
- Cash Point
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Cash Point is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Point
- Maury County
- Screamer
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Screamer is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamer
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- Corning ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Corning is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,210 people
- Collinwood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Collinwood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 932 people
- Whittens Stand ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Whittens Stand is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittens Stand
- Cypress Inn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Cypress Inn is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Inn
- Waynesboro
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Colbert County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- Ford City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ford City is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford City
- Davidsons Cross Roads ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Davidsons Cross Roads is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davidsons Cross Roads
- Nitrate City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Nitrate City is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nitrate City
- Wilson Dam
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Wilson Dam is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson Dam
- Leighton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- South Florence
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- South Florence is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Florence
- Muscle Shoals
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Sheffield
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Furnace Hill ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Furnace Hill is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
- Campbell Settlement ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Campbell Settlement is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Settlement
- Tuscumbia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Valley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Valley is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Lauderdale County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- Lexington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Belew ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Belew is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belew
- Slabtown ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Slabtown is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
- Bethel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bethel is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Arkdell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Arkdell is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkdell
- Corum ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Corum is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corum
- Anderson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Anderson is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Comer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Comer is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comer
- Cedar Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Cedar Hill is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Green Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Green Hill is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
- Estep ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Estep is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estep
- Elgin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Elgin is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Atlas ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Atlas is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
- Lawrence County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- Wheeler Dam Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Wheeler Dam Village is located in Lawrence County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Dam Village
- Red Bank
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Red Bank is located in Lawrence County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- North Courtland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- North Courtland is located in Lawrence County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Town Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Courtland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Edmond
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Hillsboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Limestone County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- Lester
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Lester is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
- Clifton ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Clifton is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
- Cairo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cairo is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Lentzville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lentzville is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lentzville
- Poplar Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Poplar Creek is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Elkmont
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Pettusville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Pettusville is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettusville
- Ripley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Hay's Mill
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Hay's Mill is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay's Mill
- Estaville ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Estaville is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estaville
- Athens
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Athens is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,643 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Athens <2>
- Ardmore
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Tanner
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wills, see our County-by-County Page for Wills.
Cemeteries Near Wills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wills.
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 Wills - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- St. Truitt Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Second Creek Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Five Points Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Home Sweet Home Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Bishop Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Liberty Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Peppertown Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Portertown Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Cottrell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bonnertown Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sexton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Union Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (859 more) ...
- Moore Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Stevens Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Gibbins Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
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.
While we didn't find Wills in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wills.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wills, with the one closest to Wills listed first.
- Lexington
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Dustin ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dustin is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dustin
- Belew ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Belew is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belew
- Appleton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Appleton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Busby
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Busby is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
- Loretto
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Pleasant Point is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Point
- Sugar ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Sugar is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar
- Comer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Comer is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comer
- Saint Joseph
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Marbuts
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Marbuts is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marbuts
- Fall River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fall River is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Good Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Good Springs is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Springs
- Minor Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Minor Hill is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
- Green Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Green Hill is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wills.
Newspapers Published in Wills ...
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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wills.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wills, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wills.
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 Wills:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Lawrence County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Giles County
- Lewis County
- Lincoln County
- Maury County
- Wayne County
- Colbert County
- Lauderdale County
- Lawrence County
- Limestone County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Tennessee
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Wills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |