Oktibbeha County was established December 23, 1833, as one of the numerous counties formed at that time from the Choctaw cession of 1830. Oktibbeha is an Indian word meaning “ice there in creek,” or, according to another authority “bloody water,” because of the battles fought here between the Chickasaws and Choctaws in an early day.
The first whites to settle permanently in Oktibbeha County were Presbyterian missionaries led by Cyrus Kingsbury. They developed Mayhew Mission in 1820 where Ash Creek flows into the "Tibbee" in the northeastern corner of the county. It contained a school for the Indians, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, and several other buildings. Three years later, Calvin Cushman established a mission at Hebron, about three miles northwest of present-day Starkville. The Choctaws surrendered their claims to the area in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which was signed on September 27, 1830. In exchange they were given lands in present-day Oklahoma to which most of them moved. White settlers now began pouring into the region, many bringing slaves with them. A number of these newcomers were attracted to the Starkville area by two large springs and the favorable lay of the land. A mill south-west of the site provided clapboards which were used for many of the original buildings. From this, the settlement came to be known as Boardtown. Oktibbeha County was formally organized on December 23, 1833, with the first court meeting at Hebron the following year. By 1835, the county seat had been established at Boardtown, which changed its name to Starkville in honor of General John Stark, a hero of the Revolutionary War. The original act defined its boundaries as follows:
“Beginning at the point at which the line between ranges 15 and 16 east, leaves the line between townships 16 and 17, and running from thence north with said line, between ranges 15 and 16 east, to a point directly west of the junction of the Buttahatchy River, with the Tombigbee River; from thence west to the line between ranges 11 and 12 east; from thence south, with said line between ranges 11 and 12 east, to the line between townships 16 and 17, and from thence east, with said line between townships 16 and 17, to the place of beginning.”
A part of its northern area was taken in 1872 to assist in forming the new county of Clay and in 1874 another piece of its territory went to Sumner, afterward Webster County. The old “Robinson Road” ran through the southern part of the county and in the southeastern part was the old Choctaw Indian agency. Numerous mounds and the many Indian names of streams and towns are constant reminders of the old Choctaw occupancy. The county has a land surface of 457 square miles.
A list of the civil officials of the county for 1838, soon after its organization, is as follows: David Ames, Judge of the Probate court; Joseph Yates, Clerk of the Circuit court; Charles Debrells, Clerk of the Probate court; John Moore, Sheriff; Richard S. Graves, Surveyor; John Wiseman, Assessor and Collector; Thomas A. Forbut, Treasurer; Richard Drummond, Coroner; John R. Todd, Ranger; James Copeland, S. Clark, Samuel Harper, John Quin, Nicholas H. Simmons, members of the Board of Police.
The first Probate Judge was David Reese; the first Sheriff was J.W. Eastland, the first County Treasurer was Robert Bell, the first Clerks of the Circuit and Probate Courts were Yates and Debrell above mentioned. R.A. Lampkin was the first postmaster and Horatio Bardwell, a Presbyterian divine, was probably the first minister to hold services in the county, about 1835. The Starkville Whig, established in 1847 by Dr. J.T. Freeman, was the first paper published. This became the Broad Ax a little later and continued under that name down to the time of the War.
Oktibbeha County is bordered by Noxubee County (southeast), Winston County (south), Choctaw County (west), Webster County (northwest), Clay County (north) and Lowndes County (east) . Cities and Towns include Maben, Starkville, Sturgis . On April 25, 1875, fire swept through downtown Starkville destroying 52 buildings.
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. Dates following a slash indicate those materials jointly held by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the FHL
Oktibbeha County Clerk of Circuit Court has Marriage Records from 1861/1861 and Court Records from 1836 and is located at Courthouse, Starkville, Mississippi 39759;
Phone: 323-1356, Fax: 338-1065 . Duties of the Circuit Clerk include
Receivin and fileing all law suits, indictments, motions and other related papers in all Civil and Criminal Cases filed in the Circuit or County Courts and issues all process including summons and subpoenas,
Draws Jurors and qualifies Juries,
Keeps a record of all Judgments and Executions,
Issues marriage licenses and keeps records of marriages.
Oktibbeha County Chancery Court Clerk has Land Records from 1834 and Probate Records from 1845 and is located at East Main Street, Starkville, Mississippi 39759;
Phone: 323-5834, Fax: 338-1065.
The Chancery Clerk occupies perhaps the most unique and diverse office in all of Mississippi government. The various duties given the Chancery Clerk by statute, or assumed voluntarily by the individual Clerk, cover a wide range of vitally important functions. Some of the duties and functions of the Chancery Clerk are recording the official minutes. As public recorder, the Clerk handles the recording and storage of several types of documents and maintains various indexes that aid people in researching these records. The primary records are deeds and mortgages relating to real property, but the Clerk also records federal tax liens, Lis Pendens ( notices of pending lawsuits ) and military discharges. The Clerk is in charge of the storage and authorized disposal of older land rolls, tax receipts and many other County records after their active use lifespan. As Clerk of the Chancery Court, the Clerk handles a multitude of tasks such as matters of estates, guardianships, conservatorships, divorces, child custody, adoption, property disputes and other matters of equity.
Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Mississippi Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Mississippi Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Oktibbeha County Health Department has Birth
and Death
Records from November of 1912 .and is located at 203 Yates Street, Starkville, MS 39759; Phone: 662-323-4565 . You may go to any county health department in the State of Mississippi to obtain a certificates can be issued while you wait.
Contact Chancery Clerk for County Divorce Records (See Oktibbeha County Court Records for Address and Phone number) in the county where divorce was granted, and Contact Clerk of Circuit Court Judge For County Marriage Records (See Oktibbeha County Court Records for Address and Phone number) in county where license was issued
Mississippi Department of Health is located in the Underwood Building, 571 Stadium Drive, just off North State Street near Woodrow Wilson Avenue in Jackson, Mississippi. The phone number is 601.576.7981. They have the following records:
Birth Certificates: The Mississippi Department of Health began filing birth certificates in November of 1912 for persons born in Mississippi.
For earlier records, contact the Mississippi Department of Archives and History at (601) 576-6876.The certified copy of the birth certificate is available for $12.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. You can download an application online for Birth Certificates.
Death Certificates: The Mississippi Department of Health began filing death certificates in November of 1912 for persons who died in Mississippi. For earlier records, contact the Mississippi Department of Archives and History at (601) 576-6876. The fee for a certified copy of a death certificate is $10.00. Each additional copy ordered at the same time is $2.00. You can download an application online for Death Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE. Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
Marriage Certificates: The Mississippi Department of Health began filing Marriage records from January 1, 1926 to June 30, 1938, and for January 1, 1942 to present. for marriages that occurred in Mississippi. (Information for marriages prior to 1926 must be obtained from the Clerk of Circuit Court office in the county where the marriage license was issued.).The fee for a search of the records and a certified copy is $10.00. Additional copies ordered at the same time are $2.00 each. You can download an application online for Marriage Certificates.
Checks or Money Orders should be made payable to "Vital Records." Please do not send cash. Fees are non refundable. Additional fees are required for expedited service. Mail all Applications to: Mississippi Vital Records, P.O. Box 1700, Jackson, MS 39215-1700. You can download an application online for Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates or Death Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE
Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Federal Population Schedules that exist for Mississippi are 1820, 1830 (Partial), 1840, 1850, 1860 (Partial), 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. In
1817 Mississippi became the twentieth state to enter the union;
therefore, the first federal population census available is
that of 1820.
Variations of this census appear in three printed forms, none
of which include slave or miscellaneous information.
Enumerations for Pike County are missing in 1830, but the Gillis
index used extant tax records to supplement their index. Transcriptions
are subject to error; use these reprints simply as a guide to
the original records.
A significant addition to the 1840 census supplies the names
and ages of pensioners. Schedules are missing for Hancock, Sunflower,
and Washington counties in 1860.
By 1870, with slavery abolished, all blacks, natives, and Chinese
were included, along with information regarding citizenship.
With the destruction of the 1890 population schedules, only
the schedules enumerating Union veterans are available for Mississippi. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms
Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Alabama and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Mississippi showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Mississippi showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps. The Alabama Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches, cemeteries, roads, ect... free for viewing or download here
Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Maps. Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Mississippi Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Mississippi (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Local
county courthouses maintain original tax records, both real
and personal. Microfilm copies of the earlier records are found
in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History where
the collection is extensive, but there are gaps. Although not
many, some counties have published selected years of tax rolls.
Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Ph. (601) 576-6850, fax (601) 576-6964 Physical Address: 200 North Street, Jackson, MS 39201 Mailing Address: P. O. Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205-0571
Mississippi Genealogical Society, PO Box 5301, Jackson, MS 39296-5301
Mississippi Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Mississippi Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Internment.net - Mississippi Cemeteries - Browse Cemeteries by County
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers throughout the world.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Oktibbeha County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Oktibbeha County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Mississippi Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
"The area of Oktibbeha county was originally a part of the lands belonging to the Choctaw Indians. It takes its name from the creek in the northern part of the county which formed part of the boundary between the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. Oktibbeha, in the Choctaw language, means "icy water." It has been estimated that in 1820 there were between 1,000 and 1,500 Choctaws living within the county's present day boundaries in some five or six settlements.
The first whites to settle permanently in Oktibbeha County were Presbyterian missionaries led by Cyrus Kingsbury. They developed Mayhew Mission in 1820 where Ash Creek flows into the "Tibbee" in the northeastern corner of the county. It contained a school for the Indians, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, and several other buildings. Three years later, Calvin Cushman established a mission at Hebron, about three miles northwest of present-day Starkville.
The missionaries improved the Indian trails to the east, converting them into wagon roads which made the area more accessible to traffic along the Tombigbee River. The first public thoroughfare in the county was the Robinson Road, built in the early 1820's with both federal and state funds. It connected Nashville, Tennessee, and Jackson, entering Oktibbeha county at Artesia and extending southeastward to the Noxubee River.
The Choctaws surrendered their claims to the area in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which was signed on September 27, 1830. In exchange they were given lands in present-day Oklahoma to which most of them moved. White settlers now began pouring into the region, many bringing slaves with them.
A number of these newcomers were attracted to the Starkville area by two large springs and the favorable lay of the land. A mill south-west of the site provided clapboards which were used for many of the original buildings. From this, the settlement came to be known as Boardtown. Oktibbeha County was formally organized on December 23, 1833, with the first court meeting at Hebron the following year. By 1835, the county seat had been established at Boardtown, which changed its name to Starkville in honor of General John Stark, a hero of the Revolutionary War.
The first courthouse was a one-room log structure with a small rail nearby. The jail had neither doors nor windows. The prisoners were let down into the hold by means of a rope. The Presbyterians established the town's first church in 1835 with the Methodists organizing shortly thereafter. The Baptists began their work in Starkville in 1839. The town got its first bank in 1835. It was called the Starkville Real Estate and Banking Company. A local lawyer, David Ames, began a school in the log court house which had fifty pupils by 1837.
During the pre-Civil War years Oktibbeha County developed into an area of small farms with a number of large plantations. The agricultural base of cotton and livestock was supported by slavery. The 1860 census revealed a population of 5,171 whites, 7,631 slaves, 18 free blacks, and 157 Indians. Starkville served as the trade center for the county, but probably had a population of only 150 - most people, even professionals, preferring to live in the country.
The Civil War was hard on Oktibbeha County as it was on the rest of Mississippi. Large numbers of its white men volunteered for Confederate service and the farms suffered. Grierson's raiders came through the region in the spring of 1863 and looted Starkville. Another Union raid the following year was turned back just south of West Point by General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
The 1870's brought the first railroad into Starkville. After several unsuccessful efforts, a branch line of the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio was built from Artesia in 1874. Ten years later Canton, Aberdeen & Nashville came through Starkville with a line that linked Aberdeen to Durant on the Illinois Central. This opened up a new trade territory for Starkville to the northeast.
On April 25, 1875, fire swept through downtown Starkville destroying 52 buildings. But, a determined people rebuilt downtown, placing the stores further apart and widening Main Street by twenty feet to its present width.
Colonel W.B. Montgomery proved to be one of the area's strongest promoters. During the late 1870's, he imported an exceptional herd of Jersey cattle and thereafter revolutionized the agricultural base from cotton to dairy farming. He was also instrumental in 1878 in securing for Starkville the location of the new state agricultural and mechanical college. Mississippi A&M would develop into Mississippi State University and become the backbone of the local economy.
As the university has expanded, so has Starkville. The late 19th century marked the beginning of an exodus from rural areas. By 1900, Starkville's population stood at 2,689, and it has expanded steadily to its present 18,458. Both the university and the community integrated relatively peacefully in the late 1960's.
Today Oktibbeha County remains primarily agriculturally-based with emphasis on timber, beef cattle, dairy products, hay, and soybeans. However, it has built a sound industrial base with some twenty-five industries employing over 2,300 people. Higher education and the extensive research programs of Mississippi State University remain its primary industry. Student enrollment is approximately 13,867 with grounds, physical plant, and equipment valued at better than $275,000,000.
Part of the rapidly developing Golden Triangle Area, Starkville and Oktibbeha County have enjoyed impressive growth in the past two decades. While proud of their heritage they seek today to provide a diverse economic and cultural base upon which to build confidently for the future.
