Coahoma County, Mississippi Genealogy

United States &gt; Mississippi &gt; Coahoma County

History
Coahoma County, Mississippi is located in northwestern Mississippi, along the Mississippi River. The county was formed 9 Feb 1836 out of the Chickasaw Nation's territory. Weaver-Zercher and Willimon (2005, see below) say that the county's formation resulted from the defrauding of the Chickasaws out of that territory in 1832 by the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Dunbar (1907, see below) says, however, that Coahoma County "constitutes one of the numerous counties formed from the Choctaw cession of 1830." Mississippi had been a state since 10 Dec 1817.

The county name, "Coahoma," was suggested by Governor Alexander G. McNutt. According to various published sources, the name comes from a Choctaw word meaning "red panther."

The act to create the county has been quoted in various 19th and 20th century sources and is of interest for its references to the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations:

"Beginning at the point where the line between townships 24 and 25 of the surveys of the late Choctaw cession intersects the Mississippi river, and running thence up the said river to the point where the dividing line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians intersects the same; thence with the dividing line to the point where the line between ranges two and three of the survey of the said Choctaw cession intersects the same; thence with said range line, to the line between townships 24 and 25 aforesaid, and thence with the said township line to the beginning."

Most of the county's early white settlers settled on the Sunflower River. Some of the later settlers appear to have arrived with the intent of dealing in counterfeit money which they printed in Coahoma County. Perhaps the best known of the counterfeiters was Hugh Talley, who served as president of the Board of Police until he was finally killed by a band of "regulators."

A better known local resident was James L. Alcorn, who lived in the county for over 50 years. Alcorn was a senator and, at one time, the governor of Mississippi.

The original county seat of Coahoma County was Port Royal, located at the eastern end of Horseshoe Bend. The seat of government shifted to Friars Point once the Mississippi River changed its course in 1848, making Port Royal no longer a river town.

Friars Point was named after an early settler, Robert Friar. Friar was the county's first representative in the state legislature.

The county seat is currently Clarksdale, which is the largest town in the county. Clarksdale was named after a brother-in-law of James L. Alcorn, Mississippi governor, whose home was in Coahoma County.

The Mississippi River forms the county's western border. Other streams within the county include the Sunflower River, as well as several bayous. An 1891 history of the county (in Lowry and McCardle, eds., A History of Mississippi) identified them as Hobson's, Phillips, Price's, Moore's, Whiting's, Cassedy's, and Opossum Bayous.

See also:


 * Coahoma County History (county government site)
 * History of Coahoma County, Mississippi (Genealogy Trails)
 * Rowland, Dunbar, Encyclopedia of Mississippi History, Vol. 1, Madison, WI: Selwyn A. Brant, 1907, especially pp. 460-462; accessible via Google Books.
 * Section titled "The Legacy of Economic Unrighteousness in the Mississippi Delta" (about Coahoma County) in David Weaver-Zercher and William H. Willimon, eds., Vital Christianity: Spirituality, Justice, and Christian Practice, New York: T&amp;T Clark, 2005, pp. 217-224: accessible via Google Books
 * Untitled county history page (GenWeb)

Parent County
1836--Coahoma County was created 9 February 1836 from the Chickasaw Cession. County records are housed in Clarksdale and Friars Point. County seat: Clarksdale

Populated Places

 * Clarksdale: Chamber of Commerce | Visit Clarksdale | Wikipedia page
 * Coahoma: Wikipedia page
 * Friars Point: Wikipedia page
 * Jonestown: Wikipedia page
 * Lula: Wikipedia page
 * Lyon: Wikipedia page

See also:


 * Coahoma County Communities (Coahoma County MSGHN)
 * Forgotten Towns &amp; Villages of Coahoma County, MS (Coahoma County MSGHN)
 * List of unincorporated places (Wikipedia)

Neighboring Counties

 * Bolivar (southwest)
 * Desha County, Arkansas
 * Phillips County, Arkansas (west)
 * Quitman (east)
 * Sunflower (south)
 * Tallahatchie (southeast)
 * Tunica (north)

Cemeteries

 * Cemeteries in Coahoma County (GenWeb)
 * Coahoma County (Tombstone Transcription Project)
 * Coahoma County Cemeteries (Coahoma County MSGHN)
 * Coahoma County Cemeteries (ePodunk)
 * Coahoma County Cemeteries (Find A Grave)
 * Coahoma County Cemeteries (Genealogy Trails)
 * Funeral Homes (GenWeb)

General

 * Coahoma County, Mississippi Largest Slaveholders from 1860 Slave Census Schedules and Surname Matches for African Americans on 1870 Census (Tom Blake)

1840

 * 1840 census (book): Coyle, Berniece Douglas. 1840 Census of Coahoma County, Mississippi. Lewisville, TX: Coyle Data Co., 1988. WorldCat page
 * 1840 census index (GenWeb Archives)

1850

 * 1850 census index (GenWeb Archives)
 * 1850 census transcription (GenWeb Archives)

Church

 * Churches (GenWeb)
 * Coahoma County Churches (Coahoma County MSGHN)

Land

 * U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office (search for online copies of Coahoma County land patents; generates 35 pages of listings for Coahoma County)

Local Histories

 * Catchings, Troy, and Homer Hill. An Oral History with Mr. Troy Catchings, 1994 March 15. Mississippi Oral History Program of the University of Southern Mississippi (series), Vol. 659 (archival manuscript). WorldCat page
 * Coahoma County Memories: A Pictorial History. Clarksdale, MS: Clarksdale Press Register, 1999. WorldCat page
 * Howerton, Joe D. The Howerton Family in Coahoma County, 1837-1850. Corpus Christi, TX: Philip Howerton, [1934?]. WorldCat page
 * Keys, Vernon J., and Homer Hill. An Oral History with Ms. Vernon J. Keys, 1994 March 19. Mississippi Oral History Program of the University of Southern Mississippi (series), Vol. 662 (archival manuscript). WorldCat page
 * Murray, Nicholas Russell. Coahoma County, Mississippi, 1868-1900. Hammond, LA: Hunting for Bears, [1982?]. WorldCat page
 * Weaver-Zercher, David L., and William H. Willimon, eds. Vital Christianity: Spirituality, Justice, and Christian Practice. New York: T&amp;T Clark, 2005, section titled "The Legacy of Economic Unrighteousness in the Mississippi Delta" (specifically about Coahoma County), pp. 217-224. Google Books preview
 * Weeks, Linton. Clarksdale &amp; Coahoma County: A History. Clarksdale, MS: Carnegie Public Library, 1982. Amazon page | Google Books page | WorldCat page
 * Work, John W., Lewis Wade Jones, and Samuel C. Adams, Jr. Lost Delta Found: Rediscovering the Fisk University-Library of Congress Coahoma County Study, 1941-1942. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2005. Amazon page | WorldCat page

Maps

 * Coahoma County Maps &amp; Geography (GenWeb)
 * Libre Map Project (includes detailed topographical maps of Coahoma County)

General

 * Coahoma County Military Sources (Coahoma County MSGHN)

Civil War
Companies formed in Coahoma County:


 * Company B (Coahoma Invincibles), 11th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry
 * Company B (Mississippi Swampers), 44th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry
 * Company K (Alcorn Rebels), 23rd Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Civil War links:


 * 11th Mississippi Infantry (includes Company B, Coahoma Invincibles)
 * 11th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry (includes Company B, Coahoma Invincibles)
 * 23rd Mississippi Infantry (includes Alcorn Rebels)
 * 44th Mississippi Infantry AKA Blythe's Regiment (includes Mississippi Swampers)
 * Army of 10,000 (includes Alcorn Rebels)
 * Coahoma and Civil War (GenWeb)
 * Coahoma Invincibles (Civil War Message Board)
 * Monument to the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment (includes Coahoma Invincibles, in Stone Sentinels)
 * Units in Coahoma (Mississippi Civil War WWW Board)

World War II

 * Coahoma County, Mississippi World War II Casualties Army and Air Force (Access Genealogy)
 * Coahoma County World War II Casualties (Genealogy Trails)

Miscellaneous

 * 1853 Register of Commissions (Genealogy Trails)
 * Funeral Homes (GenWeb)

Newspapers

 * The Clarksdale Press-Register
 * Coahoma County, MS Newspaper Titles (Chronicling America at the Library of Congress)
 * Newspaper Data (Genealogy Trails)

Births

 * Births (GenWeb)''

Marriages

 * Coahoma County Marriages (Coahoma County MSGHN)
 * Murray, Nicholas Russell. Coahoma County, Mississippi, 1868-1900: Computer Indexed Marriage Records. Hammond, LA: Hunting for Bears, [1982?]. WorldCat page

Deaths

 * Deaths (GenWeb)''

Societies and Libraries

 * Carnegie Public Library, Clarksdale, MS

Web Sites

 * Coahoma County (Find County Records)
 * Coahoma County Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Coahoma County Genealogy Queries (Cousin Connect)
 * Coahoma History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education (e-Reference Desk)
 * Coahoma County Mailing List(MSCOAHOM-L)
 * Coahoma County, Mississippi (Histopolis Collaborative Genealogy &amp; History)
 * Coahoma County, Mississippi (official site)
 * Coahoma County, Mississippi (The Political Graveyard)
 * Coahoma County, Mississippi (Wikipedia)
 * Coahoma County, Mississippi Genealogy, Facts, and Records Resources (n2Genealogy)
 * Coahoma County, Mississippi Genealogy Links (Genealogy Links.net)
 * Coahoma County, Mississippi USGenWeb Archives
 * Coahoma County, MS (RootsWeb)
 * Coahoma County, MS Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Coahoma County MSGenWeb Site
 * Coahoma County MSGenWeb Site (alternate site)
 * Coahoma County MSGHN (Mississippi Genealogy &amp; History Network)
 * Coahoma County, MS Genealogy and History (Genealogy Trails)
 * Coahoma Message Board (RootsWeb)
 * History (Coahoma Co. government site)
 * Profile for Coahoma County, MS (ePodunk)
 * Profile for Coahoma County, MS (ePodunk)