MISSISSIPPI EVERETTS

The Mississippi Territory was created in 1798. At first is was simply a narrow strip of land through what is now south central Alabama and Mississippi. It stretched from the Chattahoochee River at the western boundary of Georgia all the way to the Mississippi River. It did not include the coastal areas of Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans which were in the possession of the Spanish. Most of this land encompassed the territories of the Creeks to the east, the Choctaw to the west, the Chickasaw to the northwest, and a few scattered smaller tribes. Settlers who wished to travel from Georgia through the Creek lands to the west were required to secure a "passport" signed by the Governor. The earliest Everett to receive a passport was a HENRY (AVERITT) in 1804 from Washington County, Georgia, but his destination was not identified. In 1810, a MARTIN from Edgefield District, South Carolina and a CHARLES, possibly from Putnam County, Georgia, also received passports.

By 1800, Washington County was created from the Tombigbee District and encompassed two-thirds of the territory. Adams and Pickering Counties were created from the Natchez District at the far west on the Mississippi River. Most of the earliest settlers to the territory traveled from the North down the Mississippi River. In 1800 86% (7600) of the population of the Mississippi Territory lived in these two counties on the Mississippi River. Nearly 40% of the total population at the time were slaves.

St. Stephens was established by the Spanish as a fort as early as 1783 on the west bank of the Tombigbee River. It became the primary destination and stopping-off point for most of the settlers moving into the central and western Mississippi Territory. The Choctaw Trading Post was established there in 1800. It was not until 1805 that the Creek Indians agreed to allow a horsepath to be established from the Chattahoochee River to the Alabama River. Two years later Congress authorized the construction of the Federal Road, upon which most of the later settlers traveled, from Athens, Georgia to St. Stephens, and eventually to New Orleans. As early as 1816 a BENJAMIN EVERETT (it is believed he was from Maryland) was working at the trading post and in 1817 he was appointed to Assistant Agent. He certainly would have been known to the other Everetts who passed through St. Stephens on the way west. He married MARTHA WASHINGTON GAINES, the sister of the well known pioneer GEORGE STROTHER GAINES who was appointed the second agent (factor) of the Choctaw Post.

The U.S. Census of 1810 enumerated inhabitants of the territory by county. At that time, the Old Natchez District, lying in the western territory on the Mississippi River, and a portion of the Indian Cession of 1805 had been subdivided into the counties of Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Franklin, Jefferson, Warren, and Wilkinson.. Washington County had been established in 1800 to include the former Tombigbee District and that portion of the 1805 cession which was east of the Pearl River, extending into areas of what would become Alabama. Prior to the admission of Mississippi as a state, another census was ordered in 1816. By this time, the additional counties of Greene, Pike, Hancock, Jackson, Lawrence, Marion, Pike, and Wayne had been formed.

The earliest Everetts on record in the counties of the western Mississippi Territory were two WILLIAMS, probably a father and son, identified in the 1805 census of Wilkinson County. A WILLIAM AVERIT and JOHN AVRIT were enumerated in the 1810 and 1816 censuses in Amite County. Also in Amite County a CHARLES married a CAY RENTS in 1810 and a JAMES married a LYDIA BROWN in 1816. A WILLIAM was identified as having patented 450 acres west of the Pearl River on Buffalo Creek by 1797. We have searched many sources and consulted with archivists in Jackson, but we have been unable to identify the location of Buffalo Creek. Perhaps a reader can contribute that information.

The earliest Everett in the eastern Mississippi Territory appears to have been JOHN FAGAN. He is the grandson of the Tyrrell County, North Carolina NATHANIEL (1707-1782) and his son JOHN (1743-1820)[see our North Carolina page]. He bought land in St. Stephens in 1815 and served as a Justice of the Peace in 1816. He and a JAMES appear in the 1816 census. By 1821 John Fagan and his wife, SARAH (HAND) had sold their land to their son, ENOCH, and moved to Mobile to serve as a Justice of the Peace. As we mentioned above, BENJAMIN appears on the staff of the Choctaw (St. Stephens) Trading Post in 1816. Our ancestors, THOMAS and PENELOPE (ROGERS) appear in western Lawrence County by 1818. They purchased land from the St. Stephens Land Office in 1818 and lived there until moving, for unknown reasons, to Hinds County in 1830.

A THOMAS T. appears in the 1820 census in Jackson County, just west of Mobile.

By 1820, more Everetts had arrived and the census records reveal three geographically distinct family groups in Amite County, Lawrence County, and Jackson County. It seems likely that these Everetts, living in such close proximity, should be related. However, we have been unable to establish a connection as yet (other than an unverified reference in a family genealogy).

Our Everett line stems from THOMAS and PENELOPE, who had settled in Lawrence County by 1818. While most of our Mississippi Everett research has been focused on this family, we have spent considerable time attempting to find connections between these three families. We have also gathered considerable information on collateral families, particularly the ROGERS, which can be accessed on other pages below.