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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 Drakes Branch (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 Drakes Branch. 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 Drakes Branch ...

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 have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Drakes Branch: Drakes Br. (or less commonly used: Drakes Brnch.)
  • While the name of this town is Drakes Branch, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Drakes Branch may originally have been Drake's Branch.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Drakes Branch might be written as Drake Branch.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Drakes Branch is located in Charlotte County.

To see how the shape of Virginia's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Charlotte County: Appomattox, Campbell, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg & Prince Edward.

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

  • Charlotte County     (The home county of Drakes Branch)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Branch, with the one closest to Drakes Branch listed first.
    • Charlotte Court House
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Keysville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keysville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysville
      • Keysville is located in Charlotte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 776 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keysville <2>
    • Cullen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Phenix
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phenix have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phenix
      • Phenix is located in Charlotte County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
    • Wylliesburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Abilene
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Rough Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Aspenwall
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Abell ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Abell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abell
      • Abell is located in Charlotte County
  • Appomattox County
  • Buckingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Branch, with the one closest to Drakes Branch listed first.
    • Curdsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Forbes ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forbes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
      • Forbes is located in Buckingham County
  • Campbell County
  • Fluvanna County
    • Scottsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scottsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scottsburg
      • Scottsburg is located in Fluvanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scottsburg <2>
  • Halifax County
  • Lunenburg County
  • Mecklenburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Branch, with the one closest to Drakes Branch listed first.
    • Finneywood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Chase City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Orgainville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Skipwith
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Skipwith. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skipwith
      • Skipwith is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Skipwith
      • From Drakes Branch to Skipwith
    • Wightman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wightman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wightman
      • Wightman is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wightman
      • From Drakes Branch to Wightman
    • Jeffress
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Finchley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Finchley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchley
      • Finchley is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Finchley
      • From Drakes Branch to Finchley
    • Ogburn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ogburn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogburn
      • Ogburn is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ogburn
      • From Drakes Branch to Ogburn
    • Clarksville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
      • Clarksville is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,169 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarksville <2>
    • Boydton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boydton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boydton
      • Boydton is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boydton <2>
    • Dunns Corner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Mill Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
      • Mill Village is located in Mecklenburg County
    • Henrico
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Nottoway County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Branch, with the one closest to Drakes Branch listed first.
    • Burkeville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burkeville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burkeville
      • Burkeville is located in Nottoway County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burkeville <2>
    • Winnie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winnie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnie
      • Winnie is located in Nottoway County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Winnie
      • From Drakes Branch to Winnie
    • Crewe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crewe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewe
      • Crewe is located in Nottoway County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,116 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crewe <2>
  • Prince Edward County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Branch, with the one closest to Drakes Branch listed first.
    • Darlington Heights
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Five Forks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Blake Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blake Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake Village
      • Blake Village is located in Prince Edward County
    • Green Bay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Hampden - Sydney
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Tuggle
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Farmville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
      • Farmville is located in Prince Edward County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,842 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farmville <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Drakes Branch ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Drakes Branch.

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

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

  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Friendship Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friendship Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friendship Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Ellis Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Ellis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Ellis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Martin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Martin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ash Camp Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ash Camp Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ash Camp Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cub Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cub Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cub Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gillispie Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gillispie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gillispie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gregory Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gregory Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gregory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Providence Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Providence Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Providence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Black Branch Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Black Branch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Black Branch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Staples Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Staples Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Staples Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (179 more) ...
    • New Bethel Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Bethel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Laurel Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Laurel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Laurel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Drakes Branch had a population of 238 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Drakes Branch had a population of 492 people.

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

  • Mossingford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mossingford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossingford
    • Mossingford is located in Charlotte County
  • Saxe
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saxe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxe
    • Saxe is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saxe <2>
  • Ontario
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ontario have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontario
    • Ontario is located in Charlotte County
  • Keysville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keysville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysville
    • Keysville is located in Charlotte County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 776 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keysville <2>
  • Randolph
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Randolph have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
    • Randolph is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Randolph <2>
  • Fort Mitchell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Mitchell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Mitchell
    • Fort Mitchell is located in Charlotte County
  • Wylliesburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Finneywood
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Plantersville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plantersville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantersville
    • Plantersville is located in Lunenburg County
  • Briery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Briery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briery
    • Briery is located in Prince Edward County
  • County Line Cross Roads
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for County Line Cross Roads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line Cross Roads
    • County Line Cross Roads is located in Charlotte County
  • Pleasant Grove
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Drakes Branch ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Drakes Branch.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Drakes Branch. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Drakes Branch and those printed in the larger area surrounding Drakes Branch.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<6> of Drakes Branch.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Drakes Branch:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Drakes Branch. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Charlotte County: www.co.charlotte.va.us/

The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/

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 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.
<4>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.
<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 Drakes Branch, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Drakes Branch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Drakes Branch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9948, Longitude: -78.6035       In this case, the coordinates for Drakes Branch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025