Scott County, Mississippi Genealogical Records Information

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Scott County History and Information

Scott County Facts

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Scott County was organized on the 23d of December, 1833, and was named in honor of Abram M. Scott, seventh governor of Mississippi. The act which established the county defined its boundaries as follows:

“Beginning at the northwest corner of Jasper County, and running from thence north, with the line between ranges 9 and 10 east, to the line between the townships 8 and 9, from thence west with said line to the line between ranges 5 and 6 east; from thence south with said line to the western boundary of the Choctaw nation; from thence directly south, to a point directly west of the line, between townships 4 and 5; and from thence east with said line to the place of beginning.”

February 8, 1838, the county was enlarged by the addition of “all that portion of territory lying east of Pearl River and the old Choctaw boundary line, designating the dividing line between the Indian and white settlements prior to the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, in 1830, from the point where the said boundary line crosses Pearl River, to the point where the same intersects the present western boundary line of the county of Scott.” It is now a nearly square area of land containing 597 square miles of territory, and was one of the sixteen counties formed at the above time from the territory ceded by the Choctaws in the treaty of Dancing Rabbit, September 27, 1830.

The first members of the Board of Police for the county were John Dunn, President of the Board; James Russell, Wade H. Holland, Stephen Berry and Jeremiah B. White. The first sheriff was John Smith, the first clerk of the Probate court, Nicholas Finley, and Wm. Ricks, Sr., was the first Probate Judge, and served in that capacity for several years. Besancon’s Annual Register for 1838, gives the following list of county officers at that time: M. Patrick, E. Smith, J.L. Denson, J. Summers, J. Carr, members of the Board of Police; J.J. Chambers, Clerk of the Circuit Court; J.J. Chambers, Clerk of the Probate Court; Wm. Ricks, Sr., Probate Judge; J.B. White, Sheriff, Assessor and Collector; A. Eastland, Ranger and Coroner; M.D. Young, Treasurer; W.J. Denson, Surveyor.

The original county seat was located at Berryville, about four miles southwest of Forest, but after the streets were laid out, it was abandoned within twelve months and the courthouse was removed to Hilisboro in the fall of 1836, where it remained for thirty years. During the Civil War it was burned to the ground on Sherman's famous "March to the Sea." On November 8, 1865, a motion was made in the legislature to relocate the county seat. The election was held, and Forest was selected by a large majority. This caused one of the largest controversies in county history.

People from Hillsboro stormed the new courthouse and set fire to the roof in hopes of totally destroying the new establishment. Their plot was foiled and only a small part of the courthouse was burned. People from Forest spent the rest of the night entrenched around the courthouse with guns, determined that no harm would come to their much desired courthouse.

The result of the first elections were then suspended, and in the next election, Forest lost decisively. The intracounty turmoil was so great that it approached a small-scale war. Forest was dissatisfied and demanded another election. In the first week of May, 1873, the third and last election was held, and Forest won by a large margin. It was finally moved to Forest, on the Alabama & Vicksburg railroad.

The city of Forest has had four courthouses. The first was a frame building and the second and third were built of brick. During the time the third courthouse was in use, people often gathered on Saturdays to listen to preachers or other speakers. Because of a faulty foundation, this third courthouse was replaced by the building which is in use today. All of the early courthouses had a watering trough for animals on the east side. An extensive renovation of the latest courthouse was begun in 1996.

Scott County is bordered by Leake County (north), Newton County (east), Smith County (south), Rankin County (west) and Madison County (northwest) . Cities and Towns include Forest, Lake, Morton, Sebastopol. During the Civil War it was burned to the ground on Sherman's famous "March to the Sea." On November 8, 1865, Some records were destroyed.

See Extended History for More information. The Official County Website is located at ?. Scott County, Mississippi History Books at Amazon.com

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Scott County Court Records

See Also Mississippi Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

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

Scott County Clerk of Circuit Court has Marriage Records from 1872/1865 and Court Records from 1867 and is located at P.O. Box 371, Forest, Mississippi 39074; Phone: 469-3601, Fax: 469-3514 .
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.

Scott County Chancery Court Clerk has Land Records from 1835 and Probate Records from 1835 and is located at P. O. Box 630, Forest, Mississippi 39074; Phone: 469-1922, Fax: 469-5180.
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.

There are a few online marriage databases which include: Mississippi Marriages 1767-1935; Mississippi Marriages to 1825; Mississippi Marriages 1826-1850 and Mississippi Marriages 1826-1900. Omline Land records include Mississippi Land Records; Land Claims in Mississippi Territory, 1789-1834 and the BLM Land Records which covers the State of Mississippi. May pioneers and settelers bought land from the government instead of individuals. Online court records include Mississippi Court Records, 1799-1835

Click Here to Search Mississippi Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Scott County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Scott County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Scott County, Mississippi Court Books at Amazon.com
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.
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Scott County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

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 Scott County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Scott County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Scott County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Mississippi Genealogical Addresses

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 Scott County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Scott County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Scott County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 737, Forest, MS 39074 meetings 2nd Sat each month at Forest Public Library, 2:00P.M. use rear door. membership $12.00 per person $18.00 couple, $150.00 Lifetime, Quarterly newsletter "Tree Climber"
Dancing Rabbit Creek Genealogical Society, 114 East Franklin Street, Carthage MS 39051
Forest Public Library forest@cmrls.lib.ms.us
Local Mississippi Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
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 State Records Center, 929 High Str, Jackson, MS 39201; (601) 354-7688
Mississippi Historical Society, PO Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205-0571
Mississippi Genealogical Society, PO Box 5301, Jackson, MS 39296-5301
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Scott County Church & Cemeteries

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.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Scott County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Scott County Tombstone Transcription Project. The Mississippi Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches and cemeteries free for viewing or download here.

Below is a list of online resources for Scott County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Scott County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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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 Scott County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Scott County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

Scott County, Mississippi Family Books at Amazon.com
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Sites on USGenweb: [ Scott County ] [ Mississippi ] [ Main Page ]
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County History

Scott County, as recited in the establishing act, was named "in memory of Abraham [sic] M. Scott, deceased, late governor of this state".

Abram Marshall Scott (1787-1833), a native of South Carolina, moved to the Natchez District and served as a captain of militia in the Creek Wars of 1813-1814. He represented Wilkinson County in the 1817 Constitutional Convention, and he was Lieutenant Governor from 1828 to 1830. He was the last governor elected under the Constitution of 1817, defeating Hiram Runnels in the election of August 1831. In January of 1833 he vetoed the bill to create Holmes County. In the election of May, 1833, the first under the Constitution of 1832, he was defeated by Runnels. He died of cholera on June 12, 1833, and his term was completed by Charles Lynch.

Forest was named for the dense pine forest that once covered the site. Counties in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and a county seat in Iowa (Forest City) received their names for similar reasons. In the act of November 8, 1865, mentioned above; in the act of November 21, 1865, incorporating the town; and in an act of March 23, 1871, supplementary to the incorporating act, the name was spelled Forrest.

Nathan Bedford Forrest commanded one of the last Confederate armies to surrender in 1865, and the fact that the acts resulting in the removal of the seat of justice of Scott County were singled out by the framers of the Constitution of 1869 in the same manner as the act changing the name of Jones County to Davis lends some weight to a supposition that the town may actually have been named for General Forrest, or, at least, that some of the members of the Constitutional Convention may have thought that it was.

On the other hand, spelling has never been the Legislature's best subject; the act of March 12, 1856, incorporating Corinth, for example, spelled the name Corrinth, and a committee report recommending the name of Forrest County when the bill to create that county was being considered spelled that name Forest. Furthermore, the town of Forest may have received its name as early as 1856. The name was spelled Forest in the act of April 5, 1873, mentioned above, and has been so spelled in all subsequent legislation. It appears that "Forrest" in the acts of 1865 and 1871 was a misspelling and that the traditional explanation for the origin of the town's name is the correct one.

The book "Scott County Mississippi and it's Families" is on hand for purchase. For info contact Mary Schwab at scottcogensoc@yahoo.com

The territory which now constitutes Scott County was granted to the State of Mississippi and to the United States at the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, concluded on September 27, 1830. The counties included in the Choctaw Purchase were Noxubee, Neshoba, Leake, Newton, Smith, Jasper, Clarke, Lauderdale, and Scott, all located in the central part of the state and six counties in other areas.

The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek stipulated that the Choctaw Indians leave the area of the Choctaw Purchase as quickly as they safely could. The number of Choctaws who emigrated to the Choctaw Nation west of the Mississippi River was reported by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of 1838 to have been 15,177.

Scott County, which was named for Governor Abram M. Scott, was formed on December 23, 1833. Governor Scott, a native of South Carolina, lived in Wilkinson county, Mississippi and served two terms as Lieutenant Governor.

The members of the first Scott County Board of Police (now called the Board of Supervisors) were John Dunn, James Russell, Wade H. Holland, Stephen H. Bery, and Jeremiah B. White. Other Officials were Sheriff John Smith, Clerk of the Probate Court Nicholas Finley, and Probate Judge William Ricks.

Early Settlement
Scott County contains 584 square miles or 373,760 acres. It is one of the so-called "Hill Counties", not because it is extremely hilly, but to distinguish it from the Delta counties. It is a part of the Jackson Prairie Belt, consisting mostly of rolling upland prairie soil. Farming was the principal occupation of the early settlers of Scott County. Cotton was by far the most prevalent crop, but the early settlers, grew row crops for food.

According to the first census taken after the organization of the county, there were only about 200 white families with an average of two slaves per family. During the next ten years the population almost tripled. Many settlers in the Scott County area came from, or were descendants of people who came from France, Ireland, England, Germany, and Scotland. The first white child born in Scott County, A.B. Smith, was born in Hillsboro but moved to Forest in 1869. He was both a lawyer and leading Democrat of the time.

County Seats
Berryville, which no longer exists as a town, was the first seat of county government. It was located four miles southwest of the city of Forest and served as the county seat. Since 1866 Forest has been the center of county government.

Native Americans
Scott County was never thickly populated with Indians, but there were several Indian towns in the county, the most important being Piketon, located about 12 miles northeast of Forest. The Indians easily made friends with the new settlers and Big Fat Sam, an Indian Chief, acted as interpreter. The Indians furnished the Simmons and Pevey Hotel with squirrel, deer, and other types of fresh meat from the area.

Charters
The first charter was granted to the town of Forest on February 17, 1860. It was signed by Governor John P. Pettus, Secretary of State, A.B. Deisworth, and Attorney General, T.G. Wharton. The post office had been established nearly two months prior to the charter.

Another charter was granted on November 21, 1865, by the regular session of the legislature. At the time the town was one square mile in size and the depot was located in its center. A copy of this charter shows that the name of the town was spelled "Forrest".

On May 10, 1930 when the population of the town had reached 2,170, Governor Theodore G. Bilbo issued a proclamation stating that the "Town of Forrest" should be designated the "City of Forest". In this charter the name of the town was spelled with only one "r". At the time this charter was issued, E.S. Palmer was serving as mayor and W.C. Steele as city clerk.

Chapter CCVII
An ACT to incorporate the town of Forrest, in the county of Scott.

Section I. Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Mississippi. That the town of Forrest, in the county of Scott, Be and the same is hereby incorporated, and the corporate limits of said town shall run to the four cardinal points of the compass and form one mile square, to be laid off in such manner that the depot of the Southern Railroad company in said town, shall form the centre of said corporate limits.
(copy of 1865 charter)

Railroad and Telegraph
The Mississippi-Alabama Railroad mapped an east-west route through the state in 1855 and a site was selected through south central Scott county. The completion of the railroad in 1858 was the first step toward building Forest as the trade center of the county. Railroad contractors in Scott County were E. Gresham, James P. Clark, and Warren Clark. The railroad was built almost entirely with slave labor. On September 20, 1860 the first train reached Newton, Mississippi, just east of Forest. Railroad officials, headed by Mr. Vossburg, gave the crowd gathered in Newton a ride to Forest and back on the train. The railroad was first called the Southern Railroad, then the Vicksburg and Meridian line, and later the Alabama and Vickburg railroad.

In connection with the railroad there were soon telegraph lines, the Western Union, which ran parallel to the railroad, and the postal telegraph.

First Families and Events
People who came to the central Mississippi area in the mid-1800's found a land of towering pines so thick that the sunlight could barely penetrate to the ground, which was thickly covered with pine needles.
A ridge which rises in the Chunky River Swamp passes through the Forest and Scott County area before disappearing into the Pearl River near Jackson. Because of this ridge some of the local streams flow northward.

Settlers arriving in this beautiful forested area soon began to congregate in the area of the railroad. Forest was incorporated as town in 1860 and was being settled rapidly when the Civil War began. During the war Forest was almost a deserted village.
Mr. George Brown began construction on the first House in Forest, but before it was finished, several other homes were started and completed. Although Mr. Brown's house was only partially completed, he provided food and lodging to travelers and also cared for their livestock. Captain David M. Womack, a prosperous merchant, and Make D. Graham and their families arrived soon after Mr. Brown.

Before completion of Mr. Brown's house, John C. Simmons and C. W. Pevey began construction of a hotel, the first building to be completed. In a small frame building in the yard of the Simmons and Pevey Hotel, the first printing press in Forest was operated by James P. Dement, aided by Pat Henry. The first livery stable was owned by Mr. Pevey. The hotel and livery stable were destroyed by fire several times but were rebuilt. Mr. Pevey, along with a Mr. Hood, later operated a department store on the main street of the town. Captain Simmons was the grandfather of Mr. George Antley, a long-time Forest business man who specialized in real estate.

The first merchant to establish a business in Forest was Mr. Briscoe. Other businessmen of the time were Lod Moore, who owned a mercantile store; W.W. Lowry, T.M. Steele, who owned a department store, Make D. Graham, Morgan Colbert, Ben Wolf, G.C. Rew, G.H. Banks, and J.F. Story.

A man named Mr. Eastland operated the first drug store, and Tom Mitchell owned a jewelry store. Dr. Hillard Gardner was a merchant who was also considered one of the best doctors of his time. The first post office was located in his store. In 1873, Henry Garett opened a blacksmith shop.

Other early settlers in the Forest area included the Harpers, Smiths, Hogans, Manns, Clark, Carols, Lacks, Singletons, Womacks, Hoods, Hendons, Granvilles, Millens, and Mitchells.

Early African-American Families
Wade Needham and Anderson Jennings operated what was probably the first black business in the town of Forest, an African-American barber shop.
Older black families of the Forest area were Burke, Hood, Lamb, Lovelady, Battle, Moore, Body, McLaurin and Garett. Allen Lightfoot was an herb doctor who collected native plants for medical purposes. Miss Nettie Lovelady a midwife, was much sought after by the people of the Forest area.

Courthouses
Prior to the Civil War, Scott County was located at Hillsboro. During the Civil War it was burned to the ground on Sherman's famous "March to the Sea." On November 8, 1865, a motion was made in the legislature to relocate the county seat. The election was held, and Forest was selected by a large majority. This caused one of the largest controversies in county history.

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