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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 May (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 May. 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 and doctors 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.

May is located in Brown 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 Brown County: Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, McCulloch, Mills & San Saba.

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

  • Brown County     (The home county of May)
    • The following are listed by their distance from May, with the one closest to May listed first.
    • Lake Brownwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
    • Blanket
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Cross Cut
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
    • Early
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Brownwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Fry is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
    • Ricker ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Ricker is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
    • Bangs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Zephyr
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from May, with the one closest to May listed first.
    • Cross Plains
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cottonwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Rowden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rowden is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowden
  • Coleman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from May, with the one closest to May listed first.
    • Burkett
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Santa Anna
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from May, with the one closest to May listed first.
    • Sidney
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Sipe Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
    • Duster
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
    • Comanche
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Rucker
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Rucker is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
    • De Leon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Newburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Newburg is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
    • Comyn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Comyn is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comyn
    • Proctor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Eastland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from May, with the one closest to May listed first.
    • Rising Star
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Okra
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Okra is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okra
    • Carbon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Nimrod ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
    • Gorman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mangum ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Mangum is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mangum
    • Kokomo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Kokomo is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokomo
    • Cisco
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Cisco is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <1>
    • Eastland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Desdemona
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near May ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of May.

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

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

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

  • May Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Lost Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Parker Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Rising Star Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Heflin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Routh Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Elm Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Roberts Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Rock Church Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Ferrill Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (84 more) ...

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, May had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Rising Star
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Sidney
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Sipe Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
  • Blanket
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Pioneer
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Pioneer is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
  • Cross Cut
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
  • Duster
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Duster is located in Comanche County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
  • Thrifty
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Thrifty is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrifty
  • Cross Plains
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Burkett
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Brownwood
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Romney
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Romney is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romney
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Ricker ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Ricker is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
    • Comanche
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Carbon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in May ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around May.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of May, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for May.

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 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 May:

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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- May) 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 May, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.