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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 Cottonwood (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 Cottonwood. 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.

Cottonwood is located in Madison County.

To see how the shape of Texas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Madison County: Brazos, Grimes, Houston, Leon, Robertson & Walker.

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

  • Madison County     (The home county of Cottonwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood, with the one closest to Cottonwood listed first.
    • Madisonville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Zulch ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Zulch is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
    • North Zulch
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • George
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • George is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
    • Midway
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Brazos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood, with the one closest to Cottonwood listed first.
    • Kurten
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Edge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Edge is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edge
    • Wixon Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Wixon Valley is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wixon Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Tabor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Tabor is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
    • Boonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Boonville is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonville
    • Bryan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bryan is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 88,165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bryan <1>
    • College Station
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Grimes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood, with the one closest to Cottonwood listed first.
    • Bedias
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Iola
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Shiro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Roans Prairie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Richards
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Anderson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Apolonia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Apolonia is located in Grimes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apolonia
  • Houston County
    • Austonio
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Austonio is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austonio
  • Leon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood, with the one closest to Cottonwood listed first.
    • Normangee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Wealthy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Wealthy is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wealthy
    • Leona
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Hilltop Lakes
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Flynn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Middleton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Middleton is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Centerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Concord
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Centerview
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Centerview is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
    • Marquez
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Robertson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood, with the one closest to Cottonwood listed first.
    • Wheelock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Ridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Ridge is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
    • New Baden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Benchley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Benchley is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benchley
    • Franklin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Walker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood, with the one closest to Cottonwood listed first.
    • Wesley Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Wesley Grove is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Grove
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Goshen is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Huntsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Kittrell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Kittrell is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittrell

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

Cemeteries Near Cottonwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cottonwood.

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

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

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

  • Oxford Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • High Prairie Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Old Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Willow Hole Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Hole Cemetery
    • The Willow Hole Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Willow Hole Church Cemetery
    • Willowhole Cemetery
    • Willowhole Chapel Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #290864 <3>
  • Tenmile Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Greenbriar Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Nash Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Randolph Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Carter Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Keefer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Williamson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (157 more) ...
    • Park Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Sand Prairie Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bedias Baptist Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 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.<4>

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

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

  • Zulch ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Zulch is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
  • Madisonville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bedias
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Iola
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Connor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Connor is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connor
  • Midway
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Leona
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Kurten
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Keith
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Keith is located in Grimes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keith
  • Middleton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Middleton is located in Leon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
  • Roans Prairie
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Tabor
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Tabor is located in Brazos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Guys Store
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Guys Store is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guys Store
    • Centerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Wheelock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Cottonwood ...

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 77 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cottonwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cottonwood, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cottonwood.

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 either 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 Cottonwood:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cottonwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Cottonwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.