Place:Itawamba, Mississippi, United States

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Itawamba County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 23,401. Its county seat is Fulton. The county is part of the Tupelo, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area.

The county was named for the Chickasaw leader Itawamba, known to English-speaking settlers as Levi Colbert. He was prominent during the Indian Removal period of the early 19th century, but died before his people left the area.

History

On February 9, 1836, the Mississippi Legislature divided the land secured from the Chickasaws into counties. On February 14, 1836, the Legislature appointed commissioners in each of the ten newly created counties to get the counties organized. The commissioners appointed for Itawamba County were James Rowland, William Coats, Lewis Gideon and David Walker. As instructed by the Legislature, these commissioners called for an election and five men were elected: James Spears Bourland, Alfred G. Lane, John Beene, S.S. Spearman and Eliba Allen. These men were known as the Board of Police.

The Board of Police called an election and the following men were elected as officers for the new county of Itawamba: Charles Warren, sheriff; C.H. Ritchie, probate judge; Lewis Gideon, probate clerk and Russell O. Beene, circuit clerk.

With the organization of the county came a large influx of trans-Appalachian settlers. The 1836 tax list of the county shows there were approximately 280 families living in Itawamba County.

The Board of Police were empowered by the Legislature to select the site of county government, which was to be in the center of the county, if a suitable location, and to acquire this location either by purchase or donation.

A deed recorded in Deed Book 1, Page 53, shows that a Chickasaw sold Section 25, Township 9, Range 8 East to Kenneth Clark, John Miller and Robert Miller, land speculators living in adjoining Pontotoc County. They, in turn, donated 50 acres of this land to the Board of Police for the site of county government on July 17, 1837. The new site of county government was named Fulton and by 1838 lots were being sold in this new town. John Thompson was the first postmaster for the site of county government. Some of the first lot buyers in the new village of Fulton were John M. Cox, David Patrick, Wiley W. Gaither, James C. Wright, Edward Moore, John R. Wren, William Peacock, John L. Collins, David Files, William Files, Lemuel Beene, Joseph Calvin Clark, William Eckford, Wiley D. Clifton and John Thompson. Before Fulton was organized, county government affairs were conducted in private homes and stores including the store house of Elisha Thomas at Van Buren on the Tombigbee River and the home of James Spears Bourland in the Cardsville community.. After Fulton was organized county government business was conducted in private stores and residences in Fulton. As late as January of 1838, circuit court was held in the "ward house" of Duncan Clarke, Esq. in the new village of Fulton. It is not known when the first courthouse was built in Fulton, but records show that there was a courthouse in Fulton before 1843. More than likely it was a typical pioneer wooden structure.

Timeline

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Research Tips

• For source records such as property deeds, probate records, civil court records, and divorce records, contact the Itawamba County Chancery Clerk, PO Box 776, Fulton, MS 38843
• For source records such as marriage records, criminal court records and voter records, contact the Itawamba County Circuit Clerk, 201 West Main St., Fulton, MS 38843

External links

• The Itawamba Historical Society
• The George Poteet History Center
• Historic Bonds House Museum
• The Itawamba County-Pratt Memorial Library
• Itawamba County MSGenWeb Project