My name is Gerald Westmoreland and I welcome you to Wilkinson County MSGHN. I am proud to serve as the interim County Director for Wilkinson County MSGHN, however this county is available if you have an interest in volunteering. For more information, email me at gerald.westmoreland@gmail.com.

Our goal is to aid genealogical researchers with resources and materials related to Wilkinson 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 Wilkinson 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 Wilkinson County information you are willing to share, please let me know. Good luck in your pursuit of those elusive ancestors!

The following is part of what you will find here on Wilkinson County MSGHN so far.

• 1805 Territorial Census for Wilkinson County - Includes areas that are present day Wilkinson County, Amite County, Pike County, Walthall County, eastern Marion County, and southern Franklin County.
• 1792 Natchez District Census - Includes areas that are now Adams County, Jefferson County, and Wilkinson County. Census was taken while Spanish Government had control of this area.
• Petty Cemetery - burial listing with tombstone photos. Located near Centreville on Macedonia Road just northwest of Dr. Anderson Road. 310630N, 0910403W.
• Lobrano Family Cemetery - burial listing with tombstone photos. Located in Centreville just off Conyer Street N Extension about 1/10 mile north of East Cherokee Street. 310538N, 0910343W.
• Wilkinson County Marriages - Thousands of Wilkerson County marriage dates. Very helpful when requesting copies of marriage documents.
• Wilkinson County Cemetery List - This is a very extensive list, but I'm sure there are some cemeteries I have missed. If you know of one, please let me know.

Wilkinson County is located in the southwestern portion of Mississippi on the Louisiana border. Wilkinson County was created in the new Mississippi Territory on January 30, 1802, being the fifth county organized in Mississippi. The territorial governer at the time of Wilkinson County's formation was Gov. William Charles Cole Claiborne. The county was named in honor of U.S. Military leader Gen. James Wilkinson (photo). Wilkinson County was created by an Act of the Mississippi General Assembly:

“The county of Adams shall be divided as follows, to-wit: Beginning on the river Mississippi at the mouth of the Homochitto River, thence running up the Homochitto River to Richards ferry, thence by a line running due east to the western boundary of Washington County; and all that tract of country south of the above described boundary, to the line of demarcation, shall compose a county, which shall be called Wilkinson.”

All of the present-day Wilkinson County was once a part of the old Natchez District, then became partof the now-extinct county of Bourbon. When Adams County was formed it included the area of now Wilkerson County until 1802. This area had some of the earliest white settlements in Mississippi. in the last half of the 1700's, several large settlements had been made in Wilkinson County, favoring areas along the Homochitto River, Buffalo Bayou and the Mississippi River. Most of these early settlers were Anglo-Americans, but some were French as well as Spanish, since those countries had priviously occupied the area.

Migration to the area began in earnest following the end of the Revolutionary war. General Wilkinson came to Natchez in 1798 and later built a military post called Fort Adams on the Mississippi River in what is now Wilkinson County. Fort Adams served as the United States' port of entry on the Mississippi River before the U.S. acquisition of New Orleans. Few counties in the state can boast to having a more distinguished early residents than Wilkinson County. Early residents. This list includes George Poindexter, Daniel Williams, Abram M. Scott, John Joor, Gerard C. Brandon, Joseph Johnson, all members of the Mississippi Constitutional Convention of 1817.

Additionally, Judge Edward McGehee, Peter Smith, father of Coteworth Pinckney Smith, Chief Justice of the High Court of Errors and Appeals, John Dunkley, Thos. Kirkham, John L. Lewis, Archibald McGehee, London Davis, Hugh Davis, Douglas Cooper, Gen. Wm. L. Brandon, and Wm. and James A. Ventress were all early Wilkinson County residents.

Early centers of county governments were Fort Adams and Pinckenyville. Later, Woodville, incorporated in 1811, was named the permanant County Seat. Woodville was located at the terminus of the Bayou Sara and Woodville branch of the Y. & M. V. railroad. This historic railroad was the first railroad in Mississippi, and one of the first to be built in the United States. It was incorporated by Woodville people in 1831, under the name of The West Feliciana Railroad Company.

Other Wilkinson County communities include: Centreville, Crosby, Fort Adams, Pickneyville, Rosetta, and Wilkinson. In it's first census in 1810 there were 5,068 residents listed. In the last federal census in 2000 the population was 10,312.

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