Covington County, MississippiEdit This Page

From FamilySearch Wiki

United States   Mississippi   Covington County

Guide to Covington County Mississippi genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

	Mississippi Online Records

County Courthouse

Covington County Courthouse
PO Box 1679
Collins, MS 39428
Phone: 601.765.6132

Clerk Chancery Court has marriage, divorce and probate records from 1900, court and land records from 1860. ^[1]

History

Parent County

1819--Covington County was created 5 February 1819 from Lawrence and Wayne Counties.
County seat: Collins ^[2]

Boundary Changes

Variant Spellings

Record Loss

1904--Some records were lost.

Places/Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

• Forrest
• Jefferson Davis
• Jones
• Lamar
• Simpson
• Smith

Genealogy Resources

Research Guides

African Americans

Bible Records

Cemeteries

Census

For tips on accessing Covington County, Mississippi census records online, see: Mississippi Census.

• 1825 - 1825 State Census Returns, courtesy: FamilySearch - free.

• 1841 - 1841 State Census Returns, courtesy: FamilySearch - free.

• 1845 - 1845 State Census Returns, courtesy: FamilySearch - free.

• 1870 - 1870 State Census Returns, courtesy: FamilySearch - free.
• 1878 Enumeration of Educable Children can be found after the 1878 enumeration for Copiah County on FamilySearch and is currently (Dec. 2012) listed under Copiah, not Covington or "Mulitple Counties"- starts at image 276. It also available online from the Mississippi Archives. Both are free.

Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Mississippi denominations, view the Mississippi Church Records wiki page.

LDS Ward and Branch Records

• Seminary

Court

Genealogy

Land and Property

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Mississippi Land and Property for additional information about early Mississippi land ownership. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Covington County, Mississippi. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories see the wiki page section Mississippi Local Histories.

Maps

• Family Maps of Covington County, Mississippi (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Military

Civil War

• Men from Covington County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Covington County. 
  

- 7th Battalion, Mississippi Infantry

Company G - Covington Sharpshooters

- 7th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Company I - Covington Rifles, aka Covington Rangers

Naturalization

Newspapers

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Covington County, Mississippi newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Do a Covington County, Mississippi Place-name search for these and other records in the Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Occupations

Probate Records

Probate records are held by the Covington County, Mississippi Clerk of Court and are housed at the Covington County, Mississippi Courthouse. Microfilmed records can be found online at Mississippi Probate Records, 1781-1930. See the wiki page Mississippi Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, and adoptions.

Taxation

Mississippi tax records replace missing censuses and provide lists of residents during years between censuses. There may be gaps of several years. For more information, see Mississippi Taxation.

• 1819-1900 - County Tax Rolls, courtesy: FamilySearch - free.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. Mississippi law did not require keeping birth or death records until 1912. Births and deaths are kept by the Mississippi Bureau of Vital Statistics. Marriage records are kept by the county. See Mississippi Vital Records for more information on getting Mississippi records.

Birth

Marriage

• 1900-1920s - Covington County, Mississippi Marriage Records. Courtesy: MSGenWeb - free.
• 1904-1931 - Covington County Marriage Books 1-5 Index 1904-1931 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.^[3]

Death

Vital Record Substitutes

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Family History Library Catalog

References

1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Covington County, Mississippi page 379, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
2. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
3. ↑ Genealogical Society of Utah, Parish and Vital Records List (July 1998). Microfiche. Digital version at https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/images/c/ce/Igimississippia.pdf.

This Mississippi-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it. While this page is under construction, may we suggest Cyndi's List.

• This page was last modified on 14 June 2013, at 01:45.
• This page has been accessed 1,800 times.