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 Willow Oaks (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 Willow Oaks. 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 and hospitals 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.
Willow Oaks is located in Greensville 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 Greensville County: Northampton (NC), Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Southampton & Sussex.
Below are the counties that are near Willow Oaks. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Willow Oaks:
- Greensville County (The home county of Willow Oaks)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Jarratt
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Radium
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Radium is located in Greensville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radium
- Skippers
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Claresville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Claresville is located in Greensville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claresville
- Amelia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Ammon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Ammon is located in Amelia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ammon
- Earls
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Earls is located in Amelia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earls
- Brunswick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Callaville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Callaville is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callaville
- Totaro
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Totaro is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Totaro
- Edgerton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Edgerton is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Dolphin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Dolphin is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolphin
- Ante
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ante is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ante
- Lawrenceville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Alberta
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Alberta is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 265 people
- Powellton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Powellton is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
- Ezell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ezell is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezell
- Jonesboro ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jonesboro is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
- Gholsonville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Gholsonville is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gholsonville
- Netta ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Netta is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Netta
- Chesterfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Matoaca
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Matoaca is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoaca
- Ettrick
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Bollinger Estates
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Bollinger Estates is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bollinger Estates
- Braebrook Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Braebrook Village is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braebrook Village
- Colonial Heights City
- Colonial Heights
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Dinwiddie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Laird ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Laird is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
- Waldemar ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Waldemar is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldemar
- McKenney
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Borthwick ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Borthwick is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borthwick
- Rowanta
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rowanta is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowanta
- Oldenplace ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Oldenplace is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldenplace
- Darvills
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Darvills is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darvills
- Hebron
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Hebron is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Sutherland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Wilsons
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wilsons is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsons
- Addison
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Addison is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addison
- Maitland Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Maitland Village is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maitland Village
- Emporia City
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Emporia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- White City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- White City is located in Emporia City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
- Lunenburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Dundas
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Dundas is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundas
- Lochleven
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Lochleven is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochleven
- Kenbridge
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Mecklenburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- La Crosse
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- South Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Nottoway County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Forkland ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Forkland is located in Nottoway County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forkland
- Blackstone
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Spainville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Spainville is located in Nottoway County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spainville
- Petersburg City
- Petersburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Prince George County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Talpa ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Talpa is located in Prince George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talpa
- Derby ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Derby is located in Prince George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
- Southampton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Adams Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Adams Grove is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Grove
- Drewryville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Joyner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Joyner is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyner
- Koskoo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Koskoo is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Koskoo
- Little Texas
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Little Texas is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Texas
- Worrell
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Worrell is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worrell
- Capron
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Capron is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capron
- Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
- Pope
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Pope is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope
- Sebrell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Sebrell is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebrell
- Vincent Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Vincent Grove is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vincent Grove
- Branchville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Branchville is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
- Shiloh
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Shiloh is located in Southampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Spotsylvania County
- Brokenburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Brokenburg is located in Spotsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brokenburg
- Sussex County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Henry
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Henry is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Grizzard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Grizzard is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grizzard
- Stony Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Mason
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Mason is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
- Yale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Yale is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
- Sussex
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Sussex is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sussex
- Halifax County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Belmont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Belmont is located in Halifax County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Roanoke Rapids
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- South Rosemary
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- South Rosemary is located in Halifax County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rosemary
- South Weldon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- South Weldon is located in Halifax County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Weldon
- Weldon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Northampton County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Pleasant Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Gaston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Gaston is located in Northampton County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,022 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gaston <1>
- Henrico
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Seaboard
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Margarettsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Margarettsville is located in Northampton County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Margarettsville
- Garysburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Willow Oaks, see our County-by-County Page for Willow Oaks.
Cemeteries Near Willow Oaks ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willow Oaks.
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 Willow Oaks - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Willow Oaks covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Grace Anglican Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Zion Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Concord Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Emmanuel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Cowie Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Trisvan Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Rideout Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Bolster Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Harrison Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Barnes Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mayes Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (245 more) ...
- Carraway Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Abernathy Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
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 Willow Oaks in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willow Oaks.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Willow Oaks, with the one closest to Willow Oaks listed first.
- Callaville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Callaville is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callaville
- Pleasant Shade
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Shade is located in Greensville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Shade
- Totaro
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Totaro is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Totaro
- Durand
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Durand is located in Greensville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durand
- Jarratt
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Edgerton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Edgerton is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Laird ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Laird is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
- Emporia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Waldemar ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Waldemar is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldemar
- Sturgeonville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Sturgeonville is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeonville
- James River Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- James River Junction is located in Greensville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James River Junction
- Grizzard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Grizzard is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grizzard
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Henry
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Henry is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Borthwick ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Borthwick is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borthwick
- Green Plain
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Green Plain is located in Greensville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Plain
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Willow Oaks. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willow Oaks.
Newspapers Published in Willow Oaks ...
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 11 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willow Oaks.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willow Oaks, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willow Oaks.
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 Willow Oaks:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Greensville County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Amelia County
- Brunswick County
- Chesterfield County
- Colonial Heights City
- Dinwiddie County
- Emporia City
- Lunenburg County
- Mecklenburg County
- Nottoway County
- Petersburg City
- Prince George County
- Southampton County
- Spotsylvania County
- Sussex County
- Halifax County
- Northampton 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 Willow Oaks, 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- Willow Oaks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |