My name is Gerald Westmoreland and I welcome you to Copiah County Roots. Our goal here is to aid genealogical researchers with resources and materials related to Copiah 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 Copiah County resources to this web-site as quickly as I can. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please email me at gerald.westmoreland@gmail.com. If you have Copiah County information you are willing to share, please let me know. Good luck in your pursuit of those elusive ancestors!

The following is the most recently added content on Copiah County Roots.

• Norman Historical Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. Southeast corner of the county on Sugar Farms Road north of Pearl Valley Road. 314600N, 0900810W.
• Pine Grove Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. Southwest of Georgetown on Union Road at White Road. 314842N, 0901658W.
• St. Paul C.M.E. Church Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. Southeast of Crystal Springs on Old MS 27 Road 2 south of Hwy 27. 315822N, 0901547W.
• Bridges Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. East of Crystal Springs on Gatesville Rd just west of Beech Grove Community. 315936N, 0901538W.
• Pleasant Valley Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. West of Wesson on Pleasent Valley Road west of Sylvarena Road. 314538N, 0903314W.
• New Providence Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. Located on Highway 28 West just east of Highway 547. 314501N, 0903914W.
• New Hope Cemetery #2 burial listing with photos of each tombstone. This cemetery is located on Sylvarena Road near Montgomery Road.
• Over 10,000 Copiah County marriage records. That's a lot of marriage info. Be sure to check for your Copiah County ancestors.
• Copiah County Cemetery List. This fall, when the weather cools down a bit, we will be taking tombstone photos and providing them online.

On October 18, 1820, a large version of Hinds County was created from lands aquired from the Choctaw Indians. Copiah County, located in the East-central portion of Mississippi was formed on January 21, 1823 from the southern portion of this large Hinds County. Copiah County was the eighteenth county in Mississippi and at the time was ranked seventh in size. In the year of organization Walter Leake was Governor and James Monroe was President of the United States.

The original legislative act defined the area as "Beginning on the eastern boundary line of Claiborne County, where the southern boundary line of township three strikes the same; thence east along said line to the Choctaw boundary line; thence southwardly with the same to the northern boundary of Covington County; thence westwardly along the old Choctaw boundary line to the southwest corner of the same; thence northwardly with the old Choctaw boundary to the beginning."

In 1824, the portion of Copiah County that was east of the Pearl River was taken and formed into Simpson County. In 1870 a portion of land along the southern border was donated to land from four other counties and formed into Lincoln County. The name Copiah originates from an Indian word meaning "calling panther." The county is known as a tomato and cabbage producing area, and for many years was called the "Tomato Capital of the World." Albert Gallatin Brown, the fourteenth Governor of Mississippi was elected from Copiah County, serving from 1844 until 1848.

The county seat is Hazlehurst which had its beginning as the town of Gallatin when two lawyers by the names of Walker and Saunders who were also brothers-in-law came here from Gallatin, Tennessee in 1819 and built their homes on the banks of Bayou Pierre. In 1829, after other settlers joined the two men, the Legislature granted the town a charter.

The charter was repealed on January 18, 1862 and three years later on November 3, 1965, Hazlehurst was incorporated.  The movement from Gallatin to Hazlehurst began with the building of the New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern Railroad.

As Hazlehurst grew, Gallatin declined until it became just a settlement at cross-roads.  In April, 1872 the legislators ordered the Board of Supervisors of the county to hold an election to decide if the county seat should be moved from Gallatin to Hazlehurst.  A majority voted for the change and the old brick courthouse in Gallatin was torn down and reassembled at Hazlehurst.  Several years later this structure was replaced by a new courthouse.

Other Copiah County communities include: Crystal Springs, Georgetown, Wesson, Beauregard, Carpenter, Dentville, Gallman, Hopewell, and Martinsville. In it's first census in 1830 there were 7,001 residents listed. In the last federal census in 2000 the population was 28,757.

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