Mississippi Index of Wills 1800 - 1900

Yesterday, I received my newest Mississippi genealogy reference book.  Entitled "Mississippi Index of Wills 1800 - 1900," and compiled by Betty Couch Wiltshire, the book was published in 1989 by Heritage Books, Inc. of Bowie, Maryland. Wiltshire's compilation, an invaluable reference for family history researchers everywhere, contains a master index listing testators to over 10,000 wills filed in Mississippi during a 100-year period.  The alphabetical index also includes the date each will was filed for probate, the county in which it was filed, and the reference number for the documents filed. Often, the examination of an ancestor's will can provide a family researcher with names of other family members previously unknown to the researcher, and may clarify questions about relationships within a family. Wiltshire's other genealogical reference works include "Carroll County, Mississippi Abstracts of Wills, 1834-1875, and Divorces 1857-1875," "Marriages and Deaths from Mississippi Newspapers, Volume I: 1837-1837," "Marriages and Deaths from Mississippi Newspapers Volume 2: 1801-1850," and Marriages and Deaths from Mississippi Newspapers Volume 3: 1813-1850."

"Mississippi Court Records - 1799 - 1835"

Since I am still searching for John P. Gibson, my last brick wall ancestor, I decided to take one more look through the handy reference guide above. First printed in 1936, this 193-page book of Mississippi Court Records spanning the time period 1799 -1835, was compiled by J. Estelle Stewart King, a descendant of some of Mississippi's earliest settlers. My copy of Ms. King's book is a Clearfield Company, Inc. reprint (1992, 1994, 1995) of Genealogical Publishing Company's reprint (1969) in Baltimore, MD.


Included in the book are abstracts of wills and marriage records for Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Hinds, Warren, and Yalobusha Counties. Along with an alphabetical index, an appendix was added to the 1969 reprint that includes cemetery inscriptions from City Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi and an excerpt from the Copiah County Orphan's Court (1823-24).


For family history researchers looking for ancestors who lived in the Mississippi Territory and in the state during the early years after its formation, Ms. King's book may be a great source of information.