Mississippi History

The following important events in the history of Mississippi affected political boundaries, record keeping, and family movements.

1699 : The French established a settlement called Fort Maurepas on Biloxi Bay, Mississippi.

1716: Fort Rosalie, now Natchez, was established by the French on the Mississippi River.

1763: France ceded its claims to the Mississippi region to Great Britain.

1783 : Britain ceded the Gulf Coast area to Spain. The rest of the Mississippi region was claimed by Georgia. The boundary was in dispute until 1795, when it was set at the 31st parallel, about sixty miles north of the coast.

1789-1794: The Georgia legislature authorized the Yazoo land sales. Hundreds of people moved from the Atlantic Coast states to the Mississippi area.

1798 : Congress organized the Mississippi Territory. Georgia abandoned claims to the northern portion in 1802, and the Gulf Coast portion was acquired from Spain during the War of 1812.

1817: The eastern part of the Mississippi Territory was organized as the Territory of Alabama. Mississippi became a state.

1861: Mississippi seceded from the Union. It was readmitted in 1870.

Helpful sources for studying the history of Mississippi are:

Rowland, Dunbar. History of Mississippi, the Heart of the South. Two Volumes. Chicago, Illinois: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1925. (FHL book 976.2 H2r; films 1000271, 844829-30; fiche 6051499-50.)

Rowland, Dunbar. Mississippi, Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons. Four Volumes. 1907. Reprint. Spartanburg, South Carolina: Reprint Co., 1976. (FHL book 976.2 H2m; film 1421829 items 4-7; fiche 6051432-5.)