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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 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.

Cottonwood is located in Madison County.

To see how the shape of Texas' counties 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zulch came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
      • Zulch is located in Madison County
    • North Zulch
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • George
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
      • George is located in Madison County
    • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edge
      • Edge is located in Brazos County
    • Wixon Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wixon Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wixon Valley
      • Wixon Valley is located in Brazos County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Tabor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
      • Tabor is located in Brazos County
    • Boonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonville
      • Boonville is located in Brazos County
    • Bryan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
      • Bryan is located in Brazos County
      • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
      • Iola is located in Grimes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iola <1>
    • Shiro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Roans Prairie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roans Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roans Prairie
      • Roans Prairie is located in Grimes County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roans Prairie <1>
    • Richards
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richards have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richards
      • Richards is located in Grimes County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richards <1>
    • Anderson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anderson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
      • Anderson is located in Grimes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anderson <1>
    • Apolonia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apolonia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apolonia
      • Apolonia is located in Grimes County
  • Houston County
    • Austonio
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austonio
      • Austonio is located in Houston County
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Normangee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normangee
      • Normangee is located in Leon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 710 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Normangee <1>
    • Wealthy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wealthy
      • Wealthy is located in Leon County
    • Leona
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leona have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leona
      • Leona is located in Leon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leona <1>
    • Hilltop Lakes
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Flynn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flynn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn
      • Flynn is located in Leon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flynn <1>
    • Middleton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
      • Middleton is located in Leon County
    • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
      • Centerview is located in Leon County
    • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
      • Ridge is located in Robertson County
    • New Baden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Franklin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Franklin is located in Robertson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,643 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <1>
  • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Grove
      • Wesley Grove is located in Walker County
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goshen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
      • Goshen is located in Walker County
    • Huntsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Kittrell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittrell
      • Kittrell is located in Walker County

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cottonwood, see our County-by-County Page for 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]<4>. 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 begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oxford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oxford Cemetery
  • High Prairie Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the High Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the High Prairie Cemetery
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
  • Old Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Willow Hole Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • The Willow Hole Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Willow Hole Church Cemetery
    • Willowhole Cemetery
    • Willowhole Chapel Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Willow Hole Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #290864 <5>
  • Tenmile Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tenmile Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tenmile Cemetery
  • Greenbriar Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenbriar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenbriar Cemetery
  • Nash Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nash Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nash Cemetery
  • Randolph Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Randolph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Randolph Cemetery
  • Carter Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Carter Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carter Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2241412 <5>
  • Keefer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Keefer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Keefer Cemetery
  • Williamson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williamson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williamson Cemetery
  • Continue List   (156 more) ...
    • Park Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Park Cemetery
    • Sand Prairie Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sand Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sand Prairie Cemetery
    • Farris Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Farris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farris Cemetery

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.<7>

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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zulch came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
    • Zulch is located in Madison County
  • 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
    • Iola is located in Grimes County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iola <1>
  • Connor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Connor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connor
    • Connor is located in Madison County
  • Midway
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Leona
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leona have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leona
    • Leona is located in Leon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leona <1>
  • Kurten
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Keith
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keith have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keith
    • Keith is located in Grimes County
  • Middleton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Middleton is located in Leon County
  • Roans Prairie
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roans Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roans Prairie
    • Roans Prairie is located in Grimes County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roans Prairie <1>
  • Tabor
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
    • Tabor is located in Brazos County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Guys Store
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guys Store have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guys Store
      • Guys Store is located in Leon County
    • 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.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Cottonwood. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cottonwood) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cottonwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.9132, Longitude: -96.0030       In this case, the coordinates for Cottonwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<7>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024