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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 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Lawsonville is located in Rusk 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 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)
      • Concord is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
    • Caledonia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Caledonia is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
    • Mount Enterprise
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Brachfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Brachfield is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brachfield
    • Minden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Flats
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Oak Flats is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Flats
    • Sulphur Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Sulphur Springs is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
    • Pinehill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Pinehill is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehill
    • 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)
      • New Salem is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
    • Big Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Big Springs is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
    • Joinerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • 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)
      • Ponta is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponta
    • Henrys Chapel
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Henrys Chapel is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Chapel
    • Griffin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Griffin is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
    • Blackjack
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Blackjack is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackjack
    • New Summerfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • 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)
    • Elderville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Elderville is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elderville
  • 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)
      • Fitze is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitze
    • Whispering Pines
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Whispering Pines is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
    • Trawick
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Trawick is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trawick
    • Appleby
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Appleby is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Cushing
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Redfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Redfield is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfield
    • Looneyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Looneyville is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Looneyville
    • Nat
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Nat is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nat
    • Sacul
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dextra
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Dextra is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dextra
    • Swift
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Swift is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
    • 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)
      • Dotson is located in Panola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dotson
    • Long Branch
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Buncome
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Buncome is located in Panola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buncome
    • Clayton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Gary City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Murvaul
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Murvaul is located in Panola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murvaul
    • Delray
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Delray is located in Panola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delray
    • Woods
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Woods is located in Panola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods
    • 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)
      • Center Point is located in Panola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
  • 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)
    • Arcadia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Arcadia is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
    • 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)
      • Short is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
    • Africa ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Africa is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Africa
  • Smith County
    • Wright City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Wright City is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright City

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.

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

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)
  • 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)
  • Whitfield Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Bridwell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Campground Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Foster Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (224 more) ...
    • Langston - Spence Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langston - Spence Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Langston - Spence Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<3> to the east of Mount Enterprise.
      • The Langston - Spence Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Barham Cemetery
      • Langston Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4749 <2>
    • Ross Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Edmonson 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.<4>

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)
    • Caledonia is located in Rusk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
  • Minden
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • 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)
    • Pinehill is located in Rusk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehill
  • Fitze
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Fitze is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitze
  • Linn Flat
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Linn Flat is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Flat
  • Timpson
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Laneville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Appleby
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Appleby is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
  • Fair Play
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Fair Play is located in Panola County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Play
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Glenfawn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Glenfawn is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenfawn
    • Delray
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Delray is located in Panola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delray
    • Looneyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Looneyville is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Looneyville

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]<3>. 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 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 Lawsonville:

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 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.
<3>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- Lawsonville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Lawsonville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.