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102. Mississippi 1822 State Senate, Amite and Franklin Counties
103. Mississippi 1822 State Senate, Covington, Monroe and Wayne Counties
104. Mississippi 1822 State Senate, Greene, Hancock, Jackson and Perry Counties
105. Mississippi 1822 State Senate, Hinds County
106. Mississippi 1822 State Senate, Wilkinson County, Special
107. Mississippi 1823 Governor
108. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Adams County
109. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Claiborne County
110. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Covington County
111. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Franklin County
112. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Greene County
113. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Hinds County
114. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Hinds County, Special
115. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Jefferson County
116. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Lawrence County
117. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Monroe County
118. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Natchez
119. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Pike County
120. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Warren County
121. Mississippi 1823 House of Representatives, Wilkinson County
122. Mississippi 1823 Lieutenant Governor
123. Mississippi 1823 State Senate, Adams County
124. Mississippi 1823 State Senate, Claiborne County
125. Mississippi 1823 State Senate, Lawrence County
126. Mississippi 1823 State Senate, Wilkinson County
127. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Adams County
128. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Amite County
129. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Claiborne County
130. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Copiah County
131. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Covington County
132. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Franklin County
133. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Greene County
134. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Hancock County
135. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Hinds County
136. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Jackson County
137. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Jefferson County
138. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Lawrence County
139. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Natchez
140. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Perry County
141. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Pike County
142. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Simpson County
143. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Warren County
144. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Wayne County
145. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Wilkinson County
146. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Wilkinson County, Special
147. Mississippi 1824 House of Representatives, Yazoo County
148. Mississippi 1824 State Senate, Adams County
149. Mississippi 1824 State Senate, Copiah, Hinds, Jefferson, Simpson and Yazoo Counties
150. Mississippi 1824 State Senate, Lawrence County
151. Mississippi 1824 State Senate, Pike 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
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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
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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.