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 Wortham (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 Wortham. 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 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.
Wortham is located in Freestone 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 Freestone County: Anderson, Leon, Limestone & Navarro.
Below are the counties that are near Wortham. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wortham:
- Freestone County (The home county of Wortham)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wortham, with the one closest to Wortham listed first.
- Kirvin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Cotton Gin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Streetman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Stewards Mill ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Stewards Mill is located in Freestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewards Mill
- Teague
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fairfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Winkler
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Winkler is located in Freestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkler
- Freestone
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Freestone is located in Freestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freestone
- Dew
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Dew is located in Freestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dew
- Turlington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Turlington is located in Freestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlington
- Donie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lanely
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lanely is located in Freestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanely
- Red Lake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Red Lake is located in Freestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Lake
- Anderson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wortham, with the one closest to Wortham listed first.
- Greens Bluff
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Greens Bluff is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Bluff
- Yard ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Yard is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yard
- Cayuga
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wortham, with the one closest to Wortham listed first.
- Hubbard
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Mount Calm
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Malone
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Irene
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Penelope
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wortham, with the one closest to Wortham listed first.
- Tehuacana
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mexia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Coolidge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Fallon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Fallon is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallon
- Frosa
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Frosa is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frosa
- Groesbeck
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Delia ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Delia is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delia
- Lost Prairie
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Lost Prairie is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Prairie
- Personville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Personville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Personville
- Kirk
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Kirk is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirk
- Prairie Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Ben Hur
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Ben Hur is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben Hur
- Farrar
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Farrar is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrar
- McLennan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wortham, with the one closest to Wortham listed first.
- Mart
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Battle
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Battle is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battle
- Elk
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Elk is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk
- Hallsburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Hallsburg is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 454 people
- Navarro County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wortham, with the one closest to Wortham listed first.
- Richland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Richland is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Pursley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pursley is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pursley
- Angus
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Angus is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
- Purdon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mustang
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Mustang is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mustang
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
- Navarro
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Navarro is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navarro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
- Dawson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Silver City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Silver City is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Oak Valley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Oak Valley is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
- Navarro Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Navarro Mills is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navarro Mills
- Spring Hill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Hill is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Retreat
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Retreat is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Retreat
- Population from the 2020 Census: 384 people
- Eureka
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Eureka is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wortham, see our County-by-County Page for Wortham.
Cemeteries Near Wortham ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wortham.
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 Wortham - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wortham covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wortham, with the one closest to Wortham listed first.
- Long Bottom Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Valley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- New Home Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Red Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lindley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Spillers Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Miller Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- White Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Mexia City Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexia City Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mexia City Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Mexia.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1979262 <2>
- New Hope Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Woodland Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Webb - Branch Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (157 more) ...
- Carroll Chapel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Shanks Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Sessions Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sessions Cemetery
- The Sessions Cemetery has also been known as:
- Session 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Wortham had a population of 401 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Wortham had a population of 1,007 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wortham, with the one closest to Wortham listed first.
- Tehuacana
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mexia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Cotton Gin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Richland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Richland is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Rodney
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Rodney is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodney
- Pursley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pursley is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pursley
- Angus
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Angus is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
- Purdon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie Grove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Prairie Grove is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
- Stewards Mill ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Stewards Mill is located in Freestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewards Mill
- Dawson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Frosa
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Frosa is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frosa
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Fairfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Spring Hill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Hill is located in Navarro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Horn Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Horn Hill is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn Hill
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wortham. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wortham.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Wortham ...
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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wortham.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Wortham. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Wortham and those printed in the larger area surrounding Wortham.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4> of Wortham.
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 websites either 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 Wortham:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Freestone County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Anderson County
- Hill County
- Limestone County
- McLennan County
- Navarro County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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> | 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 Wortham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Wortham) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |