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2. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Adams County
3. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Wilkinson County
4. Mississippi 1818 State Senate, Hancock, Lawrence and Marion Counties
5. Mississippi 1820 State Senate, Adams County
6. Mississippi 1823 Sheriff, Lawrence County
7. Mississippi 1817 Territorial Legislature, Adams County
8. Mississippi 1821 Governor
9. Mississippi 1818 State Senate, Claiborne and Warren Counties
10. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Wilkinson County
11. Mississippi 1818 House of Representatives, Adams County
12. Mississippi 1819 State Senate, Adams County
13. Mississippi 1823 Lieutenant Governor
14. Mississippi 1822 House of Representatives, Hinds County
15. Mississippi 1821 Lieutenant Governor
16. Mississippi 1817 Sheriff, Adams County
17. Mississippi 1819 Sheriff, Adams County
18. Mississippi 1822 House of Representatives, Warren County
19. Mississippi 1817 State Senate, Adams County
20. Mississippi 1817 Lieutenant Governor
21. Mississippi 1822 House of Representatives, Claiborne County
22. Mississippi 1817 Governor
23. Mississippi 1821 Sheriff, Claiborne County
24. Mississippi 1823 State Senate, Lawrence County
25. Mississippi 1824 Electoral College
26. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Franklin County
27. Mississippi 1820 Electoral College
28. Mississippi 1821 Coroner, Claiborne County
29. Mississippi 1822 State Senate, Adams County
30. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Greene County
31. Mississippi 1822 Coroner, Hinds County
32. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Lawrence County
33. Mississippi 1821 Coroner, Adams County
34. Mississippi 1821 House of Representatives, Adams County
35. Mississippi 1823 Sheriff, Claiborne County
36. Mississippi 1820 U.S. House of Representatives
37. Mississippi 1824 State Senate, Adams County
38. Mississippi 1817 Coroner, Adams County
39. Mississippi 1823 Coroner, Adams County
40. Mississippi 1822 Sheriff, Hinds County
41. Mississippi 1817 State Senate, Greene, Jackson and Wayne Counties
42. Mississippi 1823 State Senate, Claiborne County
43. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Pike County
44. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Natchez
45. Mississippi 1821 House of Representatives, Claiborne County
46. Mississippi 1820 State Senate, Franklin and Jefferson Counties
47. Mississippi 1819 Governor
48. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Claiborne County
49. Mississippi 1819 Lieutenant Governor
50. Mississippi 1819 Coroner, Adams County
51. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Adams County
52. Mississippi 1817 U.S. House of Representatives
53. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Amite County
54. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Adams County
55. Mississippi 1821 House of Representatives, Natchez
56. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Warren County
57. Mississippi 1822 House of Representatives, Adams County
58. Mississippi 1821 Sheriff, Adams County
59. Mississippi 1823 Governor
60. Mississippi 1823 Sheriff, Adams County
61. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Lawrence County
62. Mississippi 1824 U.S. House of Representatives
63. Mississippi 1817 State Senate, Claiborne and Warren Counties
64. Mississippi 1819 U.S. House of Representatives
65. Mississippi 1822 U.S. House of Representatives
66. Mississippi 1823 Coroner, Lawrence County
67. Mississippi 1818 State Senate, Franklin and Pike Counties
68. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Natchez
69. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Jefferson County
70. Mississippi 1823 State Senate, Adams County
71. Mississippi 1821 State Senate, Claiborne County
72. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Claiborne County
73. Mississippi 1819 House of Representatives, Adams County
74. Mississippi 1819 House of Representatives, Natchez City
75. Mississippi 1822 House of Representatives, Natchez City
76. Mississippi 1817 State Senate, Franklin and Pike Counties
77. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Hancock County
78. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Marion County
79. Mississippi 1820 House of Representatives, Perry County
80. Mississippi 1820 State Senate, Claiborne County
81. Mississippi 1817 State Senate, Hancock, Lawrence and Marion Counties
82. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Wilkinson County
83. Mississippi 1822 House of Representatives, Pike County
84. Mississippi 1821 House of Representatives, Franklin County
85. Mississippi 1823 Coroner, Hinds County
86. Mississippi 1817 Sheriff, Warren County
87. Mississippi 1823 Sheriff, Jefferson County
88. Mississippi 1817 Sheriff, Lawrence County
89. Mississippi 1819 Coroner, Covington County
90. Mississippi 1823 Coroner, Claiborne County
91. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Pike County
92. Mississippi 1821 Coroner, Hancock County
93. Mississippi 1823 Coroner, Jefferson County
94. Mississippi 1821 Coroner, Warren County
95. Mississippi 1823 Sheriff, Warren County
96. Mississippi 1817 Sheriff, Wayne County
97. Mississippi 1819 Sheriff, Covington County
98. Mississippi 1822 Coroner, Hancock County
99. Mississippi 1821 House of Representatives, Jefferson County
100. Mississippi 1821 Coroner, Covington County
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The Mississippi Territory was established on April 7, 1798 from land ceded by Spain to the United States in 1795. The original area comprised about half the present states of Alabama and Mississippi. The size of this Territory grew substantially in 1804 with the cession of land from Georgia, and again in 1812 with annexation of the Mobile District from Spanish West Florida. With this final land acquisition the territory would encompass the entire present day states of Alabama and Mississippi.
Members of the Territorial Legislature were elected by popular vote, but other State and Federal officials were appointed either by the President, Congress or the Territorial Legislature. The first popular election for a Territory Delegate to Congress took place in October 1808.
The first Territorial Governor, appointed by President Adams was Winthrop Sargent, a Federalist from Massachusetts. With the election in 1801 of Thomas Jefferson as President, Winthrop Sargent was replaced by William C. Claiborne, a Republican from Tennessee.
During the term of Winthrop Sargent, Natchez was the Territorial capitol. It was moved to nearby Washington shortly after the appointment of William C. Claiborne, and in 1822 to accommodate the rapidly expanding population; the capitol was permanently moved at Jackson.
By Federal statues of March 1, and 3, 1817, a plan to divide the Mississippi Territory into two separate entities was set in motion. After setting boundaries, the western area began the process of organizing for statehood.
On July 7, 1817 a Convention of 48 delegates convened at Washington, Mississippi to write a State Constitution, which was adopted on August 15, 1817. The first state elections were held on September 1 and 2, 1817. Mississippi was admitted to the Union on December 10, 1817.
Under the State Constitution, future state elections would take place in early August. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor were chosen by popular vote, serving for two years. Members to the House of Representatives were elected annually and State Senators for three years. Local officials like Sheriff and Coroners were also chosen at this time. Various other state officials were chosen by the Legislature. On the federal level, Mississippi’s one Congressman was also elected in August and their Presidential Electors were to be chosen at large by popular vote.
For the first decade of statehood, much of Mississippi was still Indian land, and with the exception of northern Monroe County, which had been cut off from Madison County, now in Alabama, all the organized counties were in the southern part of the state or along the lower Mississippi River.
Although the state was politically Republican, there still may have been some lingering Federalist influence around the Natchez area from the days of Winthrop Sargent. It is interesting to note that in the 1824 election for President, two thirds of the vote for John Adams, came from the five oldest counties in the state, being Adams, Claiborne, Jefferson, Warren and Wilkinson, all of which were along the Mississippi River.
Bibliography
- Bettersworth, John K.
Mississippi: A History. Austin: The Steck Company, 1959. - Bettersworth, John K. and James W. Silver, eds.
Mississippi in the Confederacy. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1961. - Bunn, Mike and Clay Williams, "Capitals and Capitols:The Places and Spaces of Mississippi’s Seat of Government"Mississippi History Now
- Clark, Thomas D. and John D.W. Guice.
The Old Southwest, 1795–1830. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. - Cox, James L.
The Mississippi Almanac. Yazoo City: Computer Search and Research, 2001. - Cross, Ralph D., Robert W. Wales, and Charles T. Traylor.
Atlas of Mississippi. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1974. - Gleason, David K., Mary Warren Miller, and Ronald W. Miller.
The Great Houses of Natchez. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1986. - James, D. Clayton.
Antebellum Natchez. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. - Lowry, Robert and William H. McCardle.
A History of Mississippi . Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Company, 1978. - McCain, William D.
The Story of Jackson. Jackson: J.F. Hyer, 1953. - McLemore, Richard A., ed.
A History of Mississippi, Vol. 1. Jackson: University & College Press of Mississippi, 1973. - Rowland, Dunbar.
History of Mississippi. Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Company, 1978. - ________.
Mississippi Territorial Archives, Vol. 1. Nashville, TN: Press of Brandon Printing Company, 1905. - Sansing, David G., Sim C. Callon, and Carolyn V. Smith.
Natchez: An Illustrated History. Natchez, MS: Plantation Publishing Company, 1995. - Skates, John Ray.
Mississippi’s Old Capitol: Biography of a Building. Jackson: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, 1990. - Sydnor, Charles S.
A Gentleman of the Old Natchez Region: Benjamin L. C. Wailes. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1938.