WARREN COUNTY
MISSISSIPPI
MSGENWEB PROJECT
Warren County History
Warren County was created by act of the
General Assembly on December 22, 1809. The act declared that " all the
part of the Mississippi Territory which lies north of the river Big Black",
which at that time included a part of Old Washington, and the present counties
of Issaqueena and Sharkey. It was the northern most part of the old
"Natchez District". Warren County was named for Gen. Joseph Warren,
an officer in the Continental Army, who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Warren County's first county seat was
Warrenton, 12 miles below Vicksburg. Although this town has been annexed in
Vicksburg's city limits in recent years, It was incorporated in 1809 before
Vicksburg was even laid out and settled. Vicksburg was voted the county seat in
1836.
Warren County is rich in history. Tourists to
the area can visit the National Military Park located on Civil War
battlegrounds, along with the Old Courthouse Museum and many antebellum homes.
Early settlers in Warren County included the
Gibson brothers, Rev. Tobias and Rev. Randall Gibson who were the first
Methodist missionaries to Mississippi, Rev. Newitt Vick, founder of Vicksburg,
Samuel A. Davis, brother of President Jefferson Davis, and Foster Cook. Other
families in the area in early years include Turnbull, Rapalije, Griffin,
Hyland, Downs, Dana, Knowland, Thompkins, Whitefield, Sharkey, Spann,
Templeton, Matthews, Bland, Mc Cullock, Gee, Henderson, Featherston, Mc
Lemurry, Howard, Cocke, Jackson, Maynadier, Whitaker, Cox, Abney, Hough,
Bither, Blunt, Bobb, Gervais, Kines, Glass, Evans, Durden, Haynes, Blanchard,
Landell, Barfields, Armstrong, Beckwith, Smith, Bohanon, Pace, Rawls, Mc
Elrath, Hicks, Morancy, Jenkins, Ferguson, and Throckmorton. Just to name a
few!
Warren County is bordered on the west by the
Mississippi River which makes river transportation one of the larger industries
in the area.
The history of Warren County is tied into the
history of Vicksburg. Click here to go to the Vicksburg History Page.