Mississippi Genealogy

Mississippi Genealogy is being developed as a genealogical and historical resource for your personal use. It contains information and records for Mississippi ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Specifically, it provides sources for birth records, death records, marriage records, census records, tax records, court records, and military records. It also provides some historical details about different times and people in Mississippi history.

The search on the right side will search all of the Mississippi Genealogy website, but will not search the data linked to from our offsite data pages.

Mississippi Biographies

History of Mississippi

  • The Origin Of Certain Place Names In The State Of Mississippi
    The contribution, of which this paper forms a part was prepared for publication as a bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey under the title of The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States.
  • Alcorn’s Administration
    James L. Alcorn presided as Governor of Mississippi during the Reconstruction period. This article should be read in context of the generation it was written in, and deference given by the obvious proclivities of the author, Dunbar Rowland.
  • Advent of the Flag
    The United States flag was first raised in the Natchez district, at the mouth of Bayou Pierre, by a little guard of American soldiers, on the evening of February 22, 1797, the birthday of George Washington, and in the last fortnight of his administration as president. It had required eight years of war and diplomacy under his unwavering and steadfast leadership, to unfurl the flag at Detroit and Natchez.
  • Mississippi History
    With most of the recent additions made to the site centered around the history of Mississippi, I have developed a page where you will find an outline of Mississippi history as it occurs on this website.
  • Early Mississippi Forts
    Forts were a crucial requirement for French and English settlement in the United States. The fort buildings themselves were often constructed before a town building would be created. Any movement west was normally foretold by the construction of a fort in the area. This section of our site showcases the history of many of the early forts which were constructed in Mississippi.
  • Plantation Life in Mississippi Before War
    A pleasing picture of plantation life in Mississippi before the Civil War, and an attempt to preserve something of the manners, customs and deeds of that time. As in many Southern writings soon after the Civil War, the history of the “Old South” which included slavery is often painted as an idyllic setting rather then a realistic portrait of that time. That is true in this portrayal we bring to you. Please realize that the latitude with which a writer has is expansive, and this author took such liberties to heart, as he readily admits.
  • The Catholic Church In Mississippi During Colonial Times
    Early in Mississippi colonial history, the Catholic Church sent missionaries to the various Indian tribes of Mississippi to preach to the natives. These missionaries were largely unsuccessful in converting the tribesmen to Christian religion. This article introduces the reader to the early missionaries and discusses their successes and failures.
  • The Clinton Riot
    1875, the second year of the administration of Adelbert Ames as the Carpetbag Charlatan of a mongrel governmental mixture, was made notorious by the outbreak of race wars over the State, in which freedmen were arrayed against freemen
  • Mississippi Counties, Cities and Towns, 1891
    A brief visit to each county as known in 1891.  Each county lists some historical facts, Person of Interest, Business, Churches, Secret Societies of the town. In the years since this was written many of the county lines have changes, some no longer exist.
  • American Domain
    The prompt cession of western lands to the United States by Virginia and more northern states simplified the problem of asserting American jurisdiction in the northwest. But in the southwest the refusal of Georgia to adopt this policy complicated the problem. It was doubtful under the articles of confederation whether the United States congress had a right to treat regarding Indian boundaries in the wilderness claimed by any one of the states. This was one of the most vexatious questions of that day. Georgia was uncompromising in claiming exclusive domain back to the Mississippi. and did all she could in assertion of a power to sell the land without regard to the Indian title.
  • Early Agricultural Organizations of Mississippi
    Provides a brief overview of the early history of the State Grange, Farmers’ Alliance, Agricultural Wheel, State Horticultural Society, Mississippi Valley Cotton Planters’ Association, and Southern Cotton Association.
  • History of Agriculture in Mississippi
    Provides an overview of agriculture in Mississippi from the French settlement of the Natchez until 1900.

Military History of Mississippi

  • The Battle of Tupelo, or Harrisburg, July 14th, 1863
    After the Confederate victory at the battle of Brice’s Crossroads, the supply lines for William T. Sherman’s armies in Georgia became increasingly vulnerable. District commander, Cadwallader C. Washburn dispatched a force under General Andrew J. Smith to deal with Confederate cavalier, Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Battle of Tupelo was a Union victory over Confederate forces in northern Mississippi which ensured the safety of William T. Sherman’s supply lines.
  • Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads, Or Tishomingo Creek, June 2nd to 12th, 1864
    The Battle of Brice’s Crossroads was fought on June 10, 1864, near Baldwyn in Lee County, Mississippi, during the American Civil War. It pitted a 4,787-man contingent led by Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest against an 7,900-strong Union force led by Brigadier General Samuel D. Sturgis. The battle ended in a rout of the Union forces and cemented Forrest’s reputation as one of the great cavalrymen.

Native American Battles

County Websites

Neighboring States

Biography of George Forman

Early Pioneer My 4th Great Grandparents George Forman and Sarah Erwin were in the Natchez District in 1790 and settled on Coles Creek. George Forman was one of the early settlers of the Mississippi Territory. The Spanish Census for The District of Natchez in the year of 1792 lists “Jorge…

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Biography of Thomas Lee, Sr.

Pioneer Farmer Thomas Lee, Sr., born in KY circa 1788, first appears in the Norman E. Gillis list of “Early Inhabitants of the Natchez District in 1810.” Research has found a Thomas Lee living in the household of Major John Lee in Woodford Co., KY in 1802, as is documented…

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Biography of Frank Alexander Montgomery

Planter, Legislator, Judge Frank Alexander Montgomery was born in Adams County, Mississippi on January 7, 1830. His paternal grandfather, Alexander Montgomery, was one of the first pioneers to settle in Jefferson County, Mississippi, and his maternal grandfather, Colonel Cato West, served as governor of the state. When Montgomery was orphaned…

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Biography of Richard Curtis, Jr.

First Baptist Minister in Mississippi Richard Curtis, Jr. was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, on May 20, 1756; son of Richard Curtis, Sr. and Phoebe, widow of William Jones. Richard Curtis, Sr., and family (there was a stepson, John Jones, who married Anna, daughter of William Brown on 28 Jun…

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Biography of Solomon Cole

Early Pioneer Solomon Cole, son of James Cole and Mary Rentfroe was born about 1760 in Ashpole Swamp, Bladen County, North Carolina. The family moved to “Natchez Country,” Mississippi in 1772. They located at “Coles Creek,” named for our Cole ancestors. Here, Solomon married Elizabeth Davis, widow of Charles Simmons….

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Biography of Jacques Louis Beaube (Beaubet)

Pioneer French Seaman Jacques Luois Beaube (Beaubet), who first appears in the Norman E. Gillis list of “Early Inhabitants of the Natchez District in 1810,” was born in Cherbourg, France on Oct. 31, 1749. He was the first son of Gilleaume (William) Beaubet (s/o Jacques Beaubet and Jeanne Henry) and…

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Biography of Claiborne Bullen

Born a slave on Rocheland Plantation, was owned by David Harrison. His father, Washington Bullen, was a Harrison slave, but Claiborne continued in that estate only a few years, for he was born in 1860. He went to school in a barn and was taught by a Miss Day, a…

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Biography of Rev. Joseph Bullen

Presbyterian Pioneer Minister The Rev. Joseph Bullen, pioneer Mississippi and Jefferson County settler, was born on 8 July 1750, in Brimfield Massachusetts. He was a member of an old colonial family, being the fourth generation in America. From an interview recorded many years later, Joseph said as a younger son,…

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Biography of Dr. John Shaw

In 1805 John Shaw wrote a letter to President Jefferson in which he expressed his admiration for the President’s politics and introduced himself as “a native of North Carolina, descended from European parents.” He had been in the Natchez District and active in politics as early as 1797 when he…

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Family Bible of Peter Wilkinson Sr.

From the Wilkinson Family Bible in possession of Catherine Wilkinson Harrington. Births Neil Ray Wilkinson was born Nov. 23, 1809Hulda Trevillion was born May 20, 1816Elizbeth E. Wilkinson was born July 10, 1838Mary M. Wilkinson was born Oct. 23, 1840John M. Wilkinson was born March 26, 1848Phillip D. Wilkinson was…

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