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 Martins Mill (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 Martins Mill. 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.
Name Variations for Martins Mill ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Martins Mill: Martins Ml. (or less commonly used: Martins Mll.)
- While the name of this community is Martins Mill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Martins Mill may originally have been Martin's Mill.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Martins Mill might be written as Martin Mill.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Martins Mill. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Martins Mill.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 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.
Martins Mill is located in Van Zandt 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 Van Zandt County: Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains, Smith & Wood.
Below are the counties that are near Martins Mill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Martins Mill:
- Van Zandt County (The home county of Martins Mill)
- The following are listed by their distance from Martins Mill, with the one closest to Martins Mill listed first.
- Ben Wheeler
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Tundra
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Tundra is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tundra
- Edom
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Canton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Van
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Van is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,778 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Van <2>
- Myrtle Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Myrtle Springs is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle Springs
- Fruitvale
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Grand Saline
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Edgewood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Wills Point
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Anderson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martins Mill, with the one closest to Martins Mill listed first.
- Bradford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Bradford is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
- Fosterville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Fosterville is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fosterville
- Springfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Springfield is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Frankston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Henderson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martins Mill, with the one closest to Martins Mill listed first.
- Murchison
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Brownsboro
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Athens
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Leagueville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Leagueville is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leagueville
- Eustace
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Chandler
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Pine Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Pine Grove is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
- Log Cabin
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Log Cabin is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Cabin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 785 people
- Moore Station
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Moore Station is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore Station
- Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
- Caney City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Caney City is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
- Gun Barrel City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- LaRue
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Enchanted Oaks
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Enchanted Oaks is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Oaks
- Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
- Kaufman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martins Mill, with the one closest to Martins Mill listed first.
- Prairieville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Prairieville is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Mabank
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Ola
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ola is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ola
- Becker
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Becker is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Becker
- Kemp
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Tolosa
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Tolosa is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolosa
- Abner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Abner is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abner
- College Mound
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- College Mound is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Mound
- Stubbs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Stubbs is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stubbs
- Elmo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Ridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Ridge is located in Kaufman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Ridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
- Rains County
- Flats
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Flats is located in Rains County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flats
- Smith County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martins Mill, with the one closest to Martins Mill listed first.
- Carroll
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Carroll is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carroll
- Garden Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Garden Valley is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
- Jamestown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Jamestown is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Hideaway
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Hideaway is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideaway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,208 people
- Lindale
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Swan
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Swan is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan
- Noonday
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Noonday is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noonday
- Population from the 2020 Census: 722 people
- Dogwood City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Dogwood City is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood City
- Tyler
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Gresham
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gresham is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresham
- Lee Spring
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lee Spring is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Spring
- Flint
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Teaselville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Teaselville is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teaselville
- Wood County
- The following are listed by their distance from Martins Mill, with the one closest to Martins Mill listed first.
- Mineola
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Golden
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Alba
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Martins Mill, see our County-by-County Page for Martins Mill.
Cemeteries Near Martins Mill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Martins Mill.
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 Martins Mill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Martins Mill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Martins Mill, with the one closest to Martins Mill listed first.
- Cox Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Carter Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Ray Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Wreary Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Prairie Springs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Springs Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Prairie Springs Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the southeast of Canton.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6161 <3>
- Chinquapin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Morris Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Asberry Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Morris Chapel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Lewis Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Oakes Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (168 more) ...
- Marvin Chapel Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin Chapel Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Marvin Chapel Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the southwest of Van.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #5057 <3>
- Cottonwood Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Red Hill Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
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.<5>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Martins Mill had a population of 58 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Martins Mill, with the one closest to Martins Mill listed first.
- Walton
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Walton is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walton
- Ben Wheeler
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Colfax
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Colfax is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax
- Murchison
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Jackson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jackson is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Canton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Edom
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Brownsboro
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pruitt
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Pruitt is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pruitt
- Roddy
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Roddy is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roddy
- Athens
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Myrtle Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Myrtle Springs is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle Springs
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Wise
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wise is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise
- Carroll
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Carroll is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carroll
- Garden Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Garden Valley is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Martins Mill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Martins Mill.
Newspapers Published in Martins Mill ...
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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Martins Mill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Martins Mill, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Martins Mill.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Martins Mill:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Van Zandt County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Anderson County
- Henderson County
- Kaufman County
- Rains County
- Smith County
- Wood County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Martins Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <5> | 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 Martins Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |