CLAY COUNTY DATA



CLAY CO. NEIGHBORS



Welcome to Clay County!


Welcome to Clay County, Mississippi Genealogy & History Network. Our purpose is to provide free resources for genealogical and historical researchers. This site is FREE and will always be FREE to all researchers! Clay County MSGHN is looking for a volunteer to serve as County Director. If you are interested, please see the next section below.


If you have genealogy or history information to share, send an email to services@msghn.org and we will be pleased to include it here. If you have information for other Mississippi counties, please consider clicking on the Mississippi Genealogy & History Network link in the Main Menu and contact the appropriate County Director. Thanks for visiting and good luck with your research!




To Volunteer ...


MSGHN is looking for a volunteer to serve as County Director for this county! Some knowledge of creating websites is recommended. A love for genealogy, history, and volunteer work is a must. If you are interested in joining a group of caring and respectful volunteers, contact us at services@msghn.org for more information.




About Clay County...


Clay County was created May 12, 1871, during the administration of then Mississippi Governor Alcorn, and marks the southern boundary line of the old Chickasaw Indian territory. It was originally organized from parts of Chickasaw, Lowndes, Monroe and Oktibbeha Counties, and named Colfax after Schuyler Colfax, Republican Vice-President from 1869 - 1873. In 1876, after the Democrats came into power and had thrown off carpetbag rule, the name was changed to Clay in honor of the great Kentucky politician Henry Clay.

Its county seat is West Point, located at the once junction of three lines of railway—the Illinois Central, the Southern, and the Mobile and Ohio. Within easy distance of the Alabama coal fields, it once possesed excellent railroad facilities. There are no other large towns in the county, though there are a number of once thriving small ones, among which may be mentioned Cedar Bluff, Pheba, Montpelier, Abbott, Griffith and Siloam. The Tombigbee River washes a part of its eastern border and the Tibbee, Line Houlka, Sun, Chewah and Chuquatonchee creeks, tributaries of the Tombigbee, afford it ample water.



Clay County Records...


Clay County MSGHN has many records here on our website including thousands of Marriage Records. Look at the Clay 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 Clay County marriage records here at Clay 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 Clay County marriage records for any date not listed above (and for the dates listed above for that matter) may be obtained from the Clay 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, Clay County divorce proceedings were filed in the Clay County Chancery Clerk's office.