Yazoo County Mississippi Genealogy and History

Founded: January 21, 1823

Named for: Yazoo River

County Seat: Yazoo City

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Search Free Yazoo County Mississippi Genealogy and Family History Records Online including census, cemetery, vital, military and other genealogical and historical records that can be used for your family history research.

Yazoo County, Mississippi genealogy and family history page is a place where you can come in and research your genealogy and family history. We also do our best to provide a history of the area, to provide you with an overview of the time in which your ancestors lived.

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History

The area which is now Yazoo County was acquired by the State of Mississippi from the Choctaw Indians in 1820. Yazoo County was established on January 21, 1823. It was the 19th county established in the State of Mississippi, and remains the largest in area. It was developed for cotton plantations, which lined the major river to have transportation access.

The first county seat was at Beatties Bluff. As population increased, In 1829 the county seat was moved to Benton. In 1849 the county seat was moved again, to Yazoo City, where it remains.

Yazoo County was a battlefield in 1863 and 1864 during the American Civil War. After the war, whites committed violence against freedmen to assert their dominance. Such violence continued after Reconstruction. In the period from 1877 to 1950, Yazoo County had 18 documented lynchings of African Americans. Most occurred around the turn of the 20th century, as part of white imposition of Jim Crow conditions and suppression of black voting.

Communities

Cities: Yazoo City (county seat).

Town: Bentonia.

Villages: Eden, Satartia.

Census-designated place: Benton.

Unincorporated communities: Anding, Carter, Holly Bluff, Hopewell Landing, Little Yazoo, Midway, Oil City, Scotland, Tinsley, Vaughan.

Free Yazoo County Mississippi Genealogy Records Online

Adjacent counties

• Humphreys County (north)
• Holmes County (northeast)
• Madison County (east)
• Hinds County (south)
• Warren County (southwest)
• Issaquena County (west)
• Sharkey County (northwest)