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 Gidsville (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 Gidsville. 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 hospitals 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.
Gidsville is located in Amherst County.
To see how the shape of Virginia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Amherst County: Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Lynchburg City, Nelson & Rockbridge.
Below are the counties that are near Gidsville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gidsville:
- Amherst County (The home county of Gidsville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Lowesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Sandidges
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sandidges is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
- Monitor
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Monitor is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monitor
- Allwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- Forks of Buffalo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Forks of Buffalo is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forks of Buffalo
- Alto
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Alto is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
- Amherst
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- New Glasgow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
- Sweet Briar Station
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Sweet Briar Station is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Briar Station
- Pleasant View
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Coolwell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Coolwell is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
- Pedlar Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
- Albemarle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Covesville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Covesville is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covesville
- Esmont
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Esmont is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esmont
- Porters
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Porters is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porters
- Alberene
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Alberene is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberene
- Batesville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Warren
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Warren is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
- North Garden
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Appomattox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Beckham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Beckham is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckham
- Bent Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Bent Creek is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Creek
- Mineral ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Mineral is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
- Spout Spring
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Spout Spring is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spout Spring
- Appomattox
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Augusta County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Steeles Tavern
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Spottswood
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Spottswood is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
- Greenville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Sherando
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Sherando is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherando
- Lipscomb
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Lipscomb is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipscomb
- Stuarts Draft
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Newport
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Newport is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
- Lyndhurst
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Middlebrook
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Arbor Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Arbor Hill is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbor Hill
- Fishersville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Jolivue
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Jolivue is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolivue
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Abert
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Abert is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
- Coleman Falls
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Coleman Falls is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman Falls
- Waugh
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Waugh is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
- Boonsboro
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Boonsboro is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsboro
- Forest
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Cifax
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cifax is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cifax
- Bellevue
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bellevue is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
- Goode
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lowry
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lowry is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowry
- Peaksville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Peaksville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaksville
- Botetourt County
- Rocky Point
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Rocky Point is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
- Buckingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Manteo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Manteo is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteo
- Axtell
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Axtell is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axtell
- Glenmore
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Glenmore is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenmore
- Mount Vinco
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Mount Vinco is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vinco
- Alcoma
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Alcoma is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alcoma
- Toga
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Toga is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toga
- Buena Vista City
- Buena Vista
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Campbell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Mount Athos ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Mount Athos is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Athos
- Concord
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Powhatan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Powhatan is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powhatan
- Lawyers
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Lawyers is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers
- Timberlake
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Timberlake is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlake
- Bedford Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Bedford Springs is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford Springs
- Rustburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Yellow Branch
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Yellow Branch is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Branch
- Lexington City
- Lexington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Lynchburg City
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Lavino Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Lavino Village is located in Lynchburg City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavino Village
- Lynchburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Woodbine Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Woodbine Village is located in Lynchburg City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine Village
- Nelson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Massies Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Massies Mill is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massies Mill
- Colleen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Colleen is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colleen
- Jonesboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Jonesboro is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
- Tyro
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Arrington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Bryant
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bryant is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
- Shipman
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Shipman is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shipman
- Buffalo Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Buffalo Springs is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
- Norwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Norwood is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Old Myndus
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Old Myndus is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Myndus
- Gladstone
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Nellysford
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Rockbridge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Marlbrook
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Marlbrook is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlbrook
- Riverside
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Riverside is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Fairfield
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fairfield is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
- Davis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Davis is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
- Buffalo Forge
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Buffalo Forge is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Forge
- East Lexington
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- East Lexington is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lexington
- Brownsburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Glasgow
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Zollman ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Zollman is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zollman
- Fancy Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
- Greenlee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Greenlee is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlee
- Kerrs Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Kerrs Creek is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerrs Creek
- Waynesboro City
- Waynesboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gidsville, see our County-by-County Page for Gidsville.
Cemeteries Near Gidsville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gidsville.
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 Gidsville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gidsville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Beard Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Loving Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Tucker Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Carpenter Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Mays Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Higginbotham Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Parr Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fulcher Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Steele Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Henley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Cash Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Mays Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (202 more) ...
- Harvey Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Thompson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Campbell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
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 Gidsville had a population of 24 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gidsville, with the one closest to Gidsville listed first.
- Sandidges
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sandidges is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
- Lowesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Clifford
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Clifford is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
- Allwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- Forks of Buffalo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Forks of Buffalo is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forks of Buffalo
- Willow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Willow is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
- New Glasgow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
- Roseland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Massies Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Massies Mill is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massies Mill
- Oronoco
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Oronoco is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoco
- Pleasant View
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Tye River
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Tye River is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tye River
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Colleen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Colleen is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colleen
- Tyro
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Coolwell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Coolwell is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gidsville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gidsville.
Newspapers Published in Gidsville ...
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 12 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gidsville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gidsville, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gidsville.
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 Gidsville:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Amherst County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Albemarle County
- Appomattox County
- Augusta County
- Bedford County
- Botetourt County
- Buckingham County
- Buena Vista City
- Campbell County
- Lexington City
- Lynchburg City
- Nelson County
- Rockbridge County
- Waynesboro City
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
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 Gidsville, 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' (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- Gidsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |