Forrest County Roots

My name is Tammy Howard-Westmoreland. Welcome to Forrest County Roots. Our purpose is to provide free resources for genealogical and historical researchers. This site is FREE and will ALWAYS be FREE to all researchers! We are proud to be a part of the Mississippi Genealogy & History Network.

If you have information relating to Forrest County that you are willing to share with other researchers, let me know. Just email me at tr.westmoreland@gmail.com and I will be pleased to place it here on our site. 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!

The following is part of what you will find here on Forrest County Roots.

• Heidelberg Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. This cemetery is in the north-central part of the county on Wyatt Ellis Road about 3/4 mile north of Sibley Drive. 312518N, 0891809W.
• Eaton Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. Near the Eatonville Community. On Eatonville Road just south-east of Sis Hobson Road. 312521N, 0892000W.
• Kelly Cemetery burial listing with tombstone photos. This cemetery is in the north-central part of the county on Wyatt Ellis Road about 1/2 mile north of Sibley Drive. 312504N, 0891757W.
• Nearly 10,000 Forrest County marriage records. That's a lot of marriage info. Be sure to check for your Forrest County ancestors. These dates are critical to getting a certified copy of a marriage record from the Forrest County Couthouse.
• Forrest County Cemetery List. I could sure use some help with this list. I have a pretty good list of Forrest County cemeteries, but if you know of one not on the list, please email me and tell me about it.

The state legislature approved an Act on April 19, 1906 calling for the creation of a new county to be called Forrest County, named for the famous Confederate Cavalry leader, General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The legislature decided that a special election should be held within the limits of the proposed county on the first Tuesday of May, 1907 to submit the question to the qualified electors.

As a result of the favorable vote cast that day the Governor James K. Vardaman issued a proclamation calling for the organization of Forrest County on the first Monday of January, 1908. Its organization and establishment therefore dates from January 6, 1908, making Forrest County the seventy-eighth county in Mississippi. Its area was made to embrace the Second Judicial District of what was then Perry County.

Forrest County was the home of Mississippi's forty-sixth Governor, Paul B. Johnson, Sr. (1940-1943) and it's fifty-fourth governor, Paul B. Johnson, Jr. (1964-1967).

When Perry County was divided into two judicial districts Hattiesburg was made the seat of justice of the Second District, and after Forrest was created out of the Second District, Hattiesburg became the county seat.

In 1880, Captain William H. Hardy was surveying the area that is now Hattiesburg for the railroad. Finding the area to his liking, he decided to settle there and start a town. After four years, in 1884 a town governement was founded, the town incorporated and named Hattiesburg, in honor of Captain Hardy's wife Hattie. By 1885 the population of Hattiesburg had reached 2000 folks.

Disaster struck the town in 1893, when a raging fire destroyed the entire business district. The citizens, with their tenacious personalities common in the area, quickly rebuilt. Business continued to thrive, with the town experiences modest but steady growth. Hattiesburg is known as "Hub City" due to its being about 100 miles from the Gulf Coast, Mobile, New Orleans, Jackson, and Meridian.

Camp Shelby, located on Hattiesburg's southern limits, has been an important military training facility for decades. During World War I and II, hundred's of thousands of troops were trained there. During WW II Camp Shelby housed thousands of Geman POWs.

Hattiesburg is home to the University of Southern Mississippi, the third largest institution of higher learning in the state. USM is known worldwide for its Polymer Science program. USM is also where noted NFL quaterback Bret Favre played his college ball.

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