My name is Gerald Westmoreland and I welcome you to Claiborne County Roots. Our goal here is to aid genealogical researchers with resources and materials related to Claiborne County, Mississippi at no cost to the researcher. This site is FREE and will ALWAYS be FREE to all researchers! We are proud to be a part of the Mississippi Genealogy & History Network.

I am in the process of bringing more Claiborne County resources to this web-site as quickly as possible. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please email me at gerald.westmoreland@gmail.com. If you have Claiborne County information you are willing to share, please let me know. Good luck in your pursuit of those elusive ancestors!

The following is only part of what you will find here on Claiborne County Roots.

• Port Gibson Catholic Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos.
• Lee Cemetery burial listing.
• Mt. Pleasant Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos.
• Fife Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos.
• Atlas Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos.
• Darden Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos.
• Oakland College Historic Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos.
• Segrest Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos.
• Over 12,000 Claiborne County marriage records. That's a lot of marriage info. Be sure to check for your Claiborne County ancestors.

Claiborne County is located along the Mississippi River south of the Big Black River. The entire region was covered in a forest of various species of pines, oaks, dogwoods, magnolias, gum, willow, cottonwood, sycamore, elm, cypress, ash, cedar, and other hardwood trees. With rich lands, an abundance of water, plenty of wild game, plentiful timber, and a pleasant climate, the area was ideal for settlement. By 1795 settlers were arriving in large numbers.

The French claimed the area from the time of La Salle's exploration of the Mississippi River until 1763. The English claimed it from 1763 till 1781 and Spain claimed it from 1781 to 1798. In 1785 Georgia claimed it as her western lands, organized the County of Bourbon and sold territory in this region. This was the time that Thomas Cumming, Nicholas Long, Thomas Glasscock, A. Gordon and others bought all of the territory which is now Claiborne County.

Prior to the coming of the European explorers and settlers, Native American tribes lived in the area. Tribes of the area included the Natchez, the Tensas, the Muskhogean, and the Choctaw. Early settlers lived in fear of Indian uprises - understandably so - the Indian's home lands were under siege.

In 1799 there were 779 people living along the Bayou Pierre River, 158 people living near the mouth of the Big Black River, and 80 people living at Walnut Hill. In 1816, when Mississippi was still a territory, there were 295 families living in Claiborne County.

In 1798, the United States created the Mississippi Territory. The Mississippi governor organized the Natchez District into two counties, Adams and Pickering. Pickering County included the area which later became Claiborne and Jefferson Counties. The name of Pickering County was changed to Jefferson County on 11 January 1802 and sixteen days later was split, and the northern portion became Claiborne County. Claiborne County was named after the first Republican Governor, William C.C. Claiborne.

Gibson's Landing was chosen for the county seat even though this area was largely a wild woodland. Also called Gibson's Port or Gibson's Fort, the territorial legislature officially named the county seat Port Gibson in 1803.

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