Pontotoc County MS Genealogy – Access Genealogy

Chickasaw Indians

The Chickasaw Indians, linguistically related to the Choctaw, were one of the main tribes of the Muskhogean group. Their ancestral location was northern Mississippi. As per tribal history, the Chickasaw believed they had come from the west and had once lived in northern Alabama. First encountered by Europeans under De Soto, the tribe was notably warlike. They were steadfast allies of the English during the colonization of North America. After the establishment of the American Government, land pressures led them to cede their territories and move to what is now Oklahoma between 1837 and 1847

Chickasaw Tribe

Chickasaw Indians. An important Muskhogean tribe, closely related to the Choctaw in language and customs, although the two tribes were mutually hostile. Aside from tradition, the earliest habitat traceable for the Chickasaw is north Mississippi. Their villages in the 18th century centered about Pontotoc and Union counties, where the headwaters of the Tombigbee meet those of Yazoo river and its affluent, the Tallahatchie, about where the De Soto narratives place them in 1540, under the name Chicaza. Their main landing place on the Mississippi was at Chickasaw Bluffs, now the site of Memphis, Tennessee, whence a trail more than 160 … Read more

Biography of Capt. James Berrien Harper

CAPT. JAMES BERRIEN HARPER. He whose name heads this sketch is one of the substantial citizens and successful agriculturists of Barren Creek Township, Baxter County, Arkansas, but was born in Franklin County, Ga., November 17, 1833, a son of Andrew Knox and Anna (Little) Harper, natives of Virginia and Georgia, respectively. When a young man the father went to Georgia and was married in Franklin County, and in 1839 moved to Pontotoc County, Miss., where he made his home until his death in 1851, at the age of fifty-six years, his wife having died in Pontotoc County when forty-one years … Read more

Chickasaw Religion

The ancient Chickasaws, unlike their kindred, the Choctaws, entertained no superstitious views in regard to the eclipse of the sun or moon; regarding it as a phenomenon inexplicable, and to be the height of folly to be alarmed and worried over that which they had no control a sensible conclusion indeed. They called an eclipse, either of sun or moon, hushi luma (sun hidden). Sometimes a total eclipse of the sun was termed hushi illi (dead sun), and sometimes hushi kunia (lost sun). They called the moon hushi ninak aya (the sun of the night). The traditions of the Chickasaws … Read more

Biography of Joseph M. Henley

JOSEPH M. HENLEY is one of the most prominent, enterprising and progressive tillers of the soil in Buckhorn Township, and his residence on Gobler Flat. He was born in Franklin County, Ga., in 1847, but his father, John S. Henley, was born in Washington County, Tennessee He was a minister of the Methodist Church and preached the gospel in his native State, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina until his death in 1865, at about the age of seventy years. He supported the principles of the Democrat party throughout life, and at two different times represented Rabun … Read more

Biography of Capt. Lewis A. McPherson

CAPT. LEWIS A. McPHERSON. He whose name heads this sketch is a prominent and well-known citizen of Mountain Home Township, and resides in comfort near the town of Mountain Home. He was born in De Kalb County, Ala., October 2, 1840, his parents being William Wilson and Hannah (Palmer) McPherson, who were born in Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively, and in 1844 came to Arkansas from the State of Mississippi, having for some time been a resident of Marion County. At the time of their location in Arkansas, there was but one cabin on the spot where the flourishing town of … Read more

Biography of James Augustus Carter

JAMES AUGUSTUS CARTER. This gentleman is the able and efficient editor of the Baxter County Citizen, a paper published in the interests of the section and of the Democrat party. It is a breezy, spicy sheet and from its columns something useful and interesting may always be gleaned, especially in the editorial department, for Mr. Carter is a forceful and elegant writer and does not hesitate to give his unbiased opinion of all matters of public interest. He is a native of Pontotoc County, Miss., where he was born October 30, 1858, a son of Benjamin F. and Mary C. … Read more

Slave Narrative of Robert Williams

Williams doesn’t know the year of his birth or the place, but he remembers of being “taken” from a plantation somewhere around Pontotoc, Mississippi, when he was a young fellow and here’s the way he tells it. I was a great big boy when the Civil War was going on, so I remember some things about it, but the children didn’t know about things then like they do now. Nowdays we wait and let the young folks talk, but in slave times they didn’t. The master done the talking and everybody better listen! Austin Williams was my father. Nancy was … Read more

Early Mississippi Marriages 1800-1900

The following database represents a collection of 151,208 early Mississippi marriage records. The earliest occurs in 1800, the latest in 1900. The counties represented in the database: Adams, Amite, Carroll, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Harrison, Hinds, Itawamba, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, Lowndes, Madison, Marshall, Monroe, Noubee, Noxubee, Pontotoc, Rankin, Sunflower, Tippah, Tishomingo, Warren, Wilkinson, Winston, Yalobusha, and Yazoo.