Mississippi Census

Portal:United States Census >Mississippi

Availability[edit | edit source]

1820-1930--The Family History Library has the U.S. federal censuses of Mississippi

1830--The census for Pike County is missing.

1860--The census for Sunflower and Washington counties are missing.

1890--The census has been destroyed. The 1890 Union veterans schedule and index are available at the Family History Library and at the National Archives.

Historical Background[edit | edit source]

1699--The French established a settlement called Fort Maurepas on Biloxi Bay.

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.

1798--Congress organized the Mississippi Territory.

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

Indexes[edit | edit source]

1820-1870--Statewide indexes are available for the censuses.

1880-1930-- Soundex (phonetic) indexes are available on microfilm. Large cities in Mississippi have their own soundex.

Special Censuses[edit | edit source]

1850-1880--Mortality schedules are at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Indexes to the 1850, 1860, and 1870 schedules are available at the Family History Library.

Territorial and State Censuses[edit | edit source]

1792-1866--Territorial and state censuses were taken at frequent intervals for various counties. Few are complete and the information in the censuses varies.

1792--Maiden names are included in the census.

These censuses are available at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and at the Family History Library (FHL film 899868-870).

For an index covering the years 1792 to 1816, see:

Norman E. Gillis, Early Inhabitants of the Natchez District.Baton Rouge, Louisiana: N.E. Gillis, 1963 (FHL book 976.2 X2p). This includes a list of residents in 1810.

Published indexes are available for the surviving censuses for the years 1810, 1820-25, 1830/37, 1840/41, and 1845.

Some additional information about research and records in Mississippi is in:

Richard Stephen Lackey, “Mississippi,” Genealogical Research: Methods and Sources, Volume 2: 188-218 (Washington, D.C.: American Society of Genealogists, 1980; FHL book 973 D27gr).