Our goal is to aid genealogical researchers with resources and materials related to Covington 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.

We are in the process of adding more Covington County resources to this web-site as quickly as possible. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, or have Covington County history or genealogy information to share, please send an email to Tammy Westmoreland at trwestmoreland@gmail.com. Good luck in your pursuit of those elusive ancestors!

The following is only a part of what you will find here at Covington County MSGHN.

• 1841 Mississippi State Census for Covington County including heads of households and number of white males and number of white females living in household.
• Okahay Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From US 84 east take Hwy 37 north to Hwy 532. Turn left and go to Hot Coffee Community. Turn right on Gilmore Road. Go about a mile past Dalton Corely Drive. 314605N, 0892855W.
• Calhoun Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Collins, take US 84 E to Hwy 532 west to the Hot Coffee Community. Turn right on Calhoun Church Road. 314427N, 0892635W.
• Old Meshack Rogers Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From US 49 N in north Collins take Ora Street / Ora Swamp Road to right and go to Salem Church Road to left. Cemetery is right there. 314048N, 0893327W.
• Williamsburg General Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Collins take US 84 west to Mike Conner Lake Road and turn left. Take the first road to the right. 313719N, 0893640W.
• 1820 Covington County census extraction. Lists the names of heads of households. Also includes the number of white males and female in each household by age groups.
• Davis Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Seminary, take Hwy 589 south to Mae Lott Road. Turn right and go to Atwood Norris Road. Turn left and go about 1/4 mile. 313144N, 0893317W.
• Miller Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Seminary take Seminary Sumrall Road west to Seminary-Mike Conner Road west to about 1 1/2 to 2 miles past McGowen Circle. 313324N, 0893724W.
• Hemeter Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. From Collins, take US 49S to Seminary-Williamsburg Road. Turn right and go to Lyons Road. Take a left and go about 1/2 mile. 313520N, 0893419W.
• Thousands of Covington County marriage records. That's a lot of marriage info. Be sure to check for your Covington County ancestors. These dates are critical to getting a certified copy of a marriage record from the Covington County Couthouse

Covington County, located in the south-central portion of Mississippi was formed on January 5, 1819 and was originally called Bainbridge County. It was soon renamed in honor of General Leonard Covington, U.S. Army officer and Congressman who was killed in the War of 1812.

In 1826 all that part of Covington lying east of the center of Range 14 was taken to form part of Jones County. In 1906 a part of Covington was taken to form Jefferson Davis County.

Williamsburg, located in the western part of the county, was the original county seat and was named for Thomas H. Williams, who was one of the two first United States Senators from Mississippi. In 1899, the citizens of Williamsburg discovered that the railroad was going to be built through Covington County, but not through Williamsburg. As a result, a number of them moved to the railroad line and formed Williamsburg Depot. In 1906 the little village had grown large enough to incorporate into a town they named Collins, which was named for Fred W. Collins, the United States Marshall for the Southern District of Mississippi in 1891-1893 and 1897-1902, and from 1910 until his death in 1912. Being centrally located, Collins was chosen to become the new County Seat, with a courthouse being built at a cost of $117,000.

In spite of the fact that a tornado largely destroyed the town in 1912, Collins had been growing steadily on the back of the local timber industry. However, similar to gold rush towns of the west, for Collins when the timber ran out, the growing ran out. As a result, Collins declined during the depression era.

Other Covington County communities include: Mt. Olive, Seminary, Ora, Hot Coffee, and Sanford. In its first census in 1820 there were 2,330 residents listed. In the last federal census in 2000 the population was 19,407.

M.S. (Mike) Conner the forty-fourth Governor of Mississippi was elected from Covington County. He served from 1932 until 1936. NFL football star Steve "Air" McNair was from Covington County and is buried in the county. Actor Gerald McRaney, star of Simon and Simon, Promised Land, and Major Dad, is also from Covington County.

Covington County MSGHN has many records here on our website. Marriage Records, Tax lists, cemetery listings with many tombstone photos, and more. Look at the Covington County Records links in the menu on the left for a list of available data.

Birth Records - The Mississippi Department of Health maintains records of births after November 1, 1912 on file. This was the year Mississippi began keeping official birth records. You can obtain official copies of birth certificates by mail by using this birth record application on their website. If you just have to order by internet or phone, or use a credit card, you can use VitalCheck, a third party records company recognized by the Mississippi Dept. of Health. Since there are no official birth records before November 1, 1912 for births prior to that date you will need to determine birth information from census records, bible records, baptismal records, cemetery tombstones, etc.

Death Records - The Mississippi Department of Health maintains births recorded after November 1, 1912 on file. This was the year Mississippi began keeping official death records. You can obtain official copies of death certificates by mail by using this death record application on their website. If you just have to order by internet or phone, or use a credit card, you can use VitalCheck, a third party records company recognized by the Mississippi Dept. of Health. Since there are no official death records before November 1, 1912 for deaths prior to that date you will need to determine death information from census records, bible records, funeral home records, cemetery tombstones, etc.

Marriage Records - We have thousands of Covington County marriage records here at Covington County MSGHN. These dates will assist you greatly in obtaining a copy of the original marriage license. The Mississippi Department of Health can provide you with this for marriages that took place between January 1, 1926 to June 30, 1938, and for January 1, 1942 to present by mail by using this marriage record application on their website. If you just have to order by internet or phone, or use a credit card, you can use VitalCheck, a third party records company recognized by the Mississippi Dept. of Health.

All existing Covington County marriage records for any date not listed above (and for the dates listed above for that matter) may be obtained from the Covington County Circuit Clerk's office.

Divorce Records - Prior to 1859, divorce proceedings were introduced as private bills in the Mississippi State Legislature. References to these can be found in the books Index of Mississippi Session Acts 1817 - 1865 and Index to the Laws of the Mississippi Territory. These books can be found at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History as well as many other genealogy repositories and libraries across the state. After 1859, Covington County divorce proceedings were filed in the Covington County Chancery Clerk's office.

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