Clay County, Mississippi Genealogy

Guide to Clay County, Mississippi ancestry, family history and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The County was named for Henry Clay. The County has West Point as its seat and the County was created 1871. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
Clay County Courthouse PO Box 815 West point, MS 39773 Phone: 662.494.3124

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage and court records. Clerk Chancery Court has divorce, proabte and land records from 1872.

History


The county is named after U.S. Speaker of the House Henry Clay (1777-1852).

Parent County
1871--Clay County was created 12 May 1871 from Chickasaw, Lowndes, Monroe and Oktibbeha Counties. It was named Colfax County until 1876. County seat: West Point

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Mississippi county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Mississippi County Boundary Maps" (1785-1918) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Chickasaw
 * Lowndes
 * Monroe
 * Oktibbeha
 * Webster

Census

 * 1805 - 1890 Mississippi, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1805-1890 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1660 - 1820 U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1792 - 1866 Mississippi, State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792-1866 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1880 -, courtesy: FamilySearch - free.

Maps

 * Maps of Mississippi (1785-1918)

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch.org — index/images
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch.org — index/images
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1861-1865 - U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * 1889-1942 - at FamilySearch — images
 * 1900-1974 - at FamilySearch — images

Probate Records
Online Records
 * 1780 – 1982 Mississippi Wills and Probate Records 1780-1982 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1781 – 1930 at FamilySearch — images

Taxation

 * 1872-1892 -, courtesy: FamilySearch - free.

Marriage

 * 1800 - 1911 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1776 - 1935 Mississippi Marriages, 1776-1935 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1826 - 1900 Mississippi Marriages, 1826-1900 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1826 - 50 Mississippi Marriages, 1826-50 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * to 1825 Mississippi Marriages to 1825 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1872-1917 - Clay County Marriage Books 1-18 Index 1872-1917 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Genealogy Societies and Libraries
See also a List of Mississippi Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Clay County Historical and Genealogical Society P. O. Box 1849 West Point, MS 39773

Many Resources and links for the county.

Websites

 * Clay County, MS History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Clay County, Mississippi Genealogy & History Network
 * Mississippi Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Mississippi Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb Clay County, Mississippi project. Has maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.