RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Rusk County >> Lawsonville >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Texas

The Commemorative Quarter for Texas





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 Lawsonville (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 Lawsonville. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Lawsonville is located in Rusk 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 Rusk County: Cherokee, Gregg, Harrison, Nacogdoches, Panola, Shelby & Smith.

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

  • Rusk County     (The home county of Lawsonville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawsonville, with the one closest to Lawsonville listed first.
    • Concord
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
      • Concord is located in Rusk County
    • Caledonia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
      • Caledonia is located in Rusk County
    • Mount Enterprise
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Brachfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brachfield
      • Brachfield is located in Rusk County
    • Minden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minden
      • Minden is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minden <1>
    • Oak Flats
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Flats
      • Oak Flats is located in Rusk County
    • Sulphur Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
      • Sulphur Springs is located in Rusk County
    • Pinehill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehill
      • Pinehill is located in Rusk County
    • Laneville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Henderson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • New Salem
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
      • New Salem is located in Rusk County
    • Joinerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Price
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Price have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price
      • Price is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Price <1>
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawsonville, with the one closest to Lawsonville listed first.
    • Reklaw
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Ponta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponta
      • Ponta is located in Cherokee County
    • Henrys Chapel
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Chapel
      • Henrys Chapel is located in Cherokee County
    • Griffin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Griffin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
      • Griffin is located in Cherokee County
    • Blackjack
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackjack
      • Blackjack is located in Cherokee County
    • New Summerfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Summerfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Summerfield
      • New Summerfield is located in Cherokee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,187 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Summerfield <1>
  • Gregg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawsonville, with the one closest to Lawsonville listed first.
    • Easton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Easton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
      • Easton is located in Gregg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 525 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Easton <1>
    • Elderville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elderville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elderville
      • Elderville is located in Gregg County
  • Nacogdoches County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawsonville, with the one closest to Lawsonville listed first.
    • Garrison
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fitze
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fitze. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitze
      • Fitze is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Whispering Pines
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
      • Whispering Pines is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Trawick
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Trawick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trawick
      • Trawick is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Appleby
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
      • Appleby is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Cushing
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cushing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushing
      • Cushing is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 614 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cushing <1>
    • Redfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfield
      • Redfield is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Looneyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Looneyville
      • Looneyville is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Nat
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nat
      • Nat is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Sacul
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sacul have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacul
      • Sacul is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sacul <1>
    • Dextra
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dextra. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dextra
      • Dextra is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Swift
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Swift. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
      • Swift is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Martinsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Panola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawsonville, with the one closest to Lawsonville listed first.
    • Dotson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dotson
      • Dotson is located in Panola County
    • Long Branch
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Buncome
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buncome
      • Buncome is located in Panola County
    • Clayton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clayton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Clayton is located in Panola County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clayton <1>
    • Gary City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Murvaul
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Murvaul. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murvaul
      • Murvaul is located in Panola County
    • Delray
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Delray. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delray
      • Delray is located in Panola County
    • Woods
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Woods. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods
      • Woods is located in Panola County
    • Carthage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Beckville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Center Point ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
      • Center Point is located in Panola County
  • Shelby County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lawsonville, with the one closest to Lawsonville listed first.
    • Timpson
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timpson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timpson
      • Timpson is located in Shelby County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,130 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Timpson <1>
    • Arcadia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
      • Arcadia is located in Shelby County
    • Tenaha
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Short
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Short. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
      • Short is located in Shelby County
    • Africa ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Africa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Africa
      • Africa is located in Shelby County
  • Smith County
    • Wright City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright City
      • Wright City is located in Smith County

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

Cemeteries Near Lawsonville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lawsonville.

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 Lawsonville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Miles Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miles Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Phillips Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Beaver's Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Concord Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Greeley CME Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Hodge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Moss Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Hall Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hall Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hall Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Whitfield Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bridwell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Campground Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campground Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campground Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Foster Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Foster Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Foster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (224 more) ...
    • Langston - Spence Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Langston - Spence Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Langston - Spence Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<5> to the west of Mount Enterprise.
      • The Langston - Spence Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Barham Cemetery
      • Langston Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4749 <4>
    • Ross Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ross Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Edmonson Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Edmonson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Edmonson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Lawsonville had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Mount Enterprise
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Caledonia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
    • Caledonia is located in Rusk County
  • Minden
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minden
    • Minden is located in Rusk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minden <1>
  • Long Branch
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Garrison
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pinehill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehill
    • Pinehill is located in Rusk County
  • Fitze
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fitze. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitze
    • Fitze is located in Nacogdoches County
  • Linn Flat
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linn Flat have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Flat
    • Linn Flat is located in Nacogdoches County
  • Timpson
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timpson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timpson
    • Timpson is located in Shelby County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,130 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Timpson <1>
  • Laneville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Appleby
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
    • Appleby is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
  • Fair Play
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair Play have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Play
    • Fair Play is located in Panola County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Glenfawn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenfawn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenfawn
      • Glenfawn is located in Rusk County
    • Delray
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Delray. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delray
      • Delray is located in Panola County
    • Looneyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Looneyville
      • Looneyville is located in Nacogdoches County

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

Newspapers Published in Lawsonville ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lawsonville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lawsonville, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lawsonville.

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 Lawsonville:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lawsonville. 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>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.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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- Lawsonville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lawsonville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9354, Longitude: -94.6008       In this case, the coordinates for Lawsonville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Lawsonville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025