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 Payne (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 Payne. 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 hospitals and 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.
Payne is located in Henry 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 Henry County: Rockingham (NC), Stokes (NC), Franklin, Patrick & Pittsylvania.
Below are the counties that are near Payne. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Payne:
- Henry County (The home county of Payne)
- The following are listed by their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Fieldale
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Collinsville
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Stanleytown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Villa Heights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Villa Heights is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Heights
- Reed Creek Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Reed Creek Village is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Creek Village
- Bassett
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Preston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Preston is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Oak Level
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Oak Level is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Horse Pasture
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Horse Pasture is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Pasture
- Laurel Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Laurel Park is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Park
- Chatmoss
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Chatmoss is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatmoss
- Leatherwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Leatherwood is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherwood
- Carroll County
- Pike City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Pike City is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike City
- Floyd County
- The following are listed by their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Haycock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Haycock is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haycock
- Pizarro
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pizarro is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pizarro
- Floyd
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Poff
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Poff is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poff
- Simpsons
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Simpsons is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpsons
- Terrys Fork
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Terrys Fork is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrys Fork
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Henry
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Prilliman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Prilliman is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prilliman
- Sydnorsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Sydnorsville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sydnorsville
- Ferrum
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Barfoot
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Barfoot is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barfoot
- Rocky Mount
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Hickman
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Hickman is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickman
- Laprades Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Laprades Mill is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laprades Mill
- Gogginsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Gogginsville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gogginsville
- Redwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Redwood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwood
- Algoma
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Algoma is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algoma
- Villa ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Villa is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa
- Martinsville City
- Martinsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Patrick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Stella
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Stella is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Dodson
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dodson is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodson
- Critz
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Nettleridge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Nettleridge is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleridge
- Elamsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Elamsville is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elamsville
- Patrick Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Charity
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Charity is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charity
- Stuart
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Woolwine
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Peters Creek
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Peters Creek is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Creek
- Meadows of Dan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Carters Mill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Carters Mill is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
- Pittsylvania County
- The following are listed by their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Grady
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Grady is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grady
- Cascade
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Cascade is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
- Swansonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Swansonville is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swansonville
- Worlds
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Worlds is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worlds
- Museville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Museville is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Museville
- Mount Cross
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Mount Cross is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Cross
- Weal
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Weal is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weal
- Ridgecrest
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Ridgecrest is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgecrest
- Chatham
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Chatham is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,413 people
- Tightsqueeze
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Tightsqueeze is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tightsqueeze
- Caswell County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Pelham
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pelham is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
- Whitetown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Whitetown is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitetown
- Rockingham County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Matrimony
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Matrimony is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matrimony
- Fairview
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fairview is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Spray ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Spray is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spray
- Providence
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Providence is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Stoneville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Eden
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Eden is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,867 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <1>
- Shiloh
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Shiloh is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Meadow Summit
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Meadow Summit is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Summit
- Draper ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Draper is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draper
- Mayodan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- College Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- College Village is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Village
- Madison
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Stokes County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Amostown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Amostown is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amostown
- Sandy Ridge
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Ridge
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Ridge is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Ridge
- Campbell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Campbell is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
- Snow Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Snow Hill is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Lawsonville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lawsonville is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonville
- Aarons Corner
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Aarons Corner is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aarons Corner
- Upper Sawra Town ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Upper Sawra Town is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Sawra Town
- Danbury
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Hall
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Meadows
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Meadows is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
- Vade Mecum
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Vade Mecum is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vade Mecum
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Payne, see our County-by-County Page for Payne.
Cemeteries Near Payne ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Payne.
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 Payne - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Payne covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Peoples Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Roselawn Burial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Henry Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mt. Olive East Christian Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Chestnut Knob Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Knob Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Chestnut Knob Cemetery is located
- The Chestnut Knob Cemetery has also been known as:
- Barnes Cemetery
- Barnes Family Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2303562 <2>
- Old Center Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Barrow Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Carver Memorial Gardens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Young Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Young Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Starkey - Barbour Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (723 more) ...
- Williams Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Metz - Nunn Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Davis Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
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>
While we didn't find Payne in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Payne.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Payne, with the one closest to Payne listed first.
- Reed Creek Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Reed Creek Village is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Creek Village
- Preston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Preston is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Blackberry
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Blackberry is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry
- Horse Pasture
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Horse Pasture is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Pasture
- Figsboro
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Figsboro is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Figsboro
- Oak Level
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Oak Level is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Spencer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Spencer is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer
- Stella
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Stella is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Ridgeway
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Leatherwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Leatherwood is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherwood
- Prilliman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Prilliman is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prilliman
- Irisburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Irisburg is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irisburg
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Stockton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Stockton is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockton
- Critz
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Price
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Price is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Payne. See our List of 1890's Communities around Payne.
Newspapers Published in Payne ...
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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Payne.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Payne, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Payne.
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 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 Payne:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Henry County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carroll County
- Floyd County
- Franklin County
- Martinsville City
- Patrick County
- Pittsylvania County
- Caswell County
- Rockingham County
- Stokes County
- 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 Payne, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Payne) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |