Stone County Mississippi Genealogy & History Network

Welcome to Stone County MSGHN

Welcome to the Stone County Mississippi Genealogy & History Network website providing free information to genealogical and historical researchers.

To share your Stone County, Mississippi genealogy or history information, send an email to msghn@outlook.com - we will be pleased to include it here. If you have information to share for other Mississippi Counties, visit the Mississippi Genealogy & History Network state website and choose the appropriate county.

About Stone County, Mississippi...

Stone County is located in the southeastern portion of Mississippi. Stone County was formed on January 6, 1916 from the northern part of Harrison County. It was the eighty-first county formed in the state, and is the sixty-second in area. Stone County was named for Mississippi Governor, John M. Stone who served as governor from 1876 to 1882 and again from 1890 to 1896. Earl Brewer was the state Governor at the time of organization.

The county seat is Wiggins, named for Wiggins Hatten who was one of its earliest residents and prominant in developing local schools. The first white settlers in the area traveled mostly from Georgia and South Carolina.

While still known as Niles City, the first store was built in 1894. The name was changed to Wiggins when the post office was established in 1898, then the town was incorporated in 1904. Prior to 1916 Wiggins was part of Harrison County, but in that year Stone County was created from a portion of Harrison County. The Stone County courthouse was built in Wiggins the following year.

Around 1893 the G & SI Railroad was completed. Soon a large sawmill was built in Wiggins by the Finkbine Lumber Company. When area timber sources were exhausted, the company bought redwood logs from the Pacific Coast and had them shipped by boat to Gulfport then up the G & SI Railroad to Today's Highway 531 in Smith County runs along what was once Andrew Jackson's Military Road, according to most historians. This road was a Nashville to New Orleans route improved by the federal government and later named in honor of Jackson.

With the closure of the mill, local farmers were encouraged to clear the cut-over land in the area and become truck farmers. It was soon discovered that cucumbers would grow easily in the area soil. The Brown-Miller Company built and operated a pickle factory in Wiggins and for many years many hundreds of train cars of pickles were shipped out of the town annually.

The first county seat was in Fairfield, about four miles south of the location of present-day Raleigh. The county seat was later moved to Raleigh, which was named in honor of the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. Over the years, Stone County has suffered three courthouse fires. Sadly, many valuable historic records have been lost through these tragedies. Stone County is known throughout the region for its watermelons.

The county has a total area of 448.07 square miles, of which 445.37 square miles is land and 2.71 square mile (0.60%) is water. The population recorded in the 1920 Federal Census was 6,528. The 2010 census recorded 17,786 residents in the county.

Neigboring counties are Perry County (northeast), George County (east), Jackson County (southeast), Harrison County (south), Hancock County (southwest), Pearl River County (west), and Forrest County (northwest). Communities in the county include Wiggins, Beatrice, Big Level, Bond, Ten Mile, McHenry, Perkinston, Texas, Ramsey Springs, and Silver Run.

Stone County, Mississippi Records

Stone County MSGHN has many records here on our website. Marriage Records, Cemetery listings, tombstone photos, and more. Look at the Stone County Data links 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  ...READ MORE