Melissa McCoy-Bell
Benton County MSGenWeb Coordinator

Old Benton County Court House
in Ashland, Mississippi, now home of the Benton County Museum and Historical Society

Benton County Formation
Benton County was formed in 1870, when reconstructionist laws came into effect after the Civil War.  Benton was originally Tippah
and Marshall County up until that time.  The town of Ashland is the county seat and location of the Court House.  Benton County borders
with Marshall County on the West, Tippah County on the East, Union and Lafayette on the South, Hardeman and Fayette Counties in Tennessee on the North. 
The land that makes up Benton belonged to the Chickasaw Indians before settlement.  In 1834, the Treaty of Pontotoc
was signed between the State of Mississippi and the Chickasaw Nation allowing the purchase of land by white settlers.
Nathan Bedford Forrest, a general in the Civil War was from Salem, MS, located in what is now Benton County.

 We Need You!
To send me old pictures of Benton County.  So... if you have some old pictures of the towns, communities, gatherings, schools, or buildings in Benton County scan them and attach them to an email and I will create a page for them for all to see.