My name is Gerry Westmoreland and I am the County Coordinator for Jefferson County. Thank you to the previous County Coordinators for all of their hard work! A special thanks to Annie Geoghagan! Please share your Jefferson County genealogy and history data by submitting your information to: Jefferson County MSGenWeb.
Please keep in mind that although we provide information to assist you with your genealogical research, we are unable do you genealogy for you. Thank you for your understanding.
Jefferson County is located along the Mississippi River in southwest Mississippi. The entire region was covered in a forest of various species of pines, oaks, dogwoods, magnolias, gum, willow, cottonwood, sycamore, elm, cypress, ash, cedar, and other hardwood trees. With rich lands, an abundance of water, plenty of wild game, plentiful timber, and a pleasent climate, the area was ideal for settlement. By 1795 settlers were arriving in large numbers.
The French claimed the area from the time of La Salle's exploration of the Mississippi River until 1763. The English claimed it from 1763 till 1781 and Spain claimed it from 1781 to 1798. In 1785 Georgia claimed it as her western lands, organized the County of Bourbon and sold territory in this region. This was the time that Thomas Cumming, Nicholas Long, Thomas Glasscock, A. Gordon and others bought all of the territory which included the area that is now Jefferson County.
Prior to the coming of the European explorers and settlers, Native American tribes lived in the area. Tribes of the area included the Natchez, the Tensas, the Muskhogean, and the Choctaw. Early settlers lived in fear of Indian uprises - understandably so - the Indian's home lands were under seige.
In 1798, the United States created the Mississippi Territory. The Mississippi governor organized the Natchez District into two counties, Adams and Pickering. Pickering County included the area which later became Claiborne and Jefferson Counties. The name of Pickering County was changed to Jefferson County on 11 January 1802, in honor of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, and sixteen days later was split. The northern portion became Claiborne County while the southern portion remained Jefferson County.
Until 1825, the County Seat was located at Greenville near the mouth of Cole's creek. Today the County Seat is Fayette. There remains nothing of Greenville today.
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Neigboring counties and parishes are Claiborne County (to the north), Copiah County (to the northeast), Lincoln County (to the southeast), Franklin County (to the south), Adams County (to the southwest), and Tensas Parish, Louisiana (to the west).
