Mississippi Cemetery Records Research Guide
Mississippi cemetery records are important documents that you will need if you are doing family history research and want to know about ancestors from the Mississippi area.
When you have Mississippi cemetery records, you will have actual data to back up a lot of the stories you will get from older relatives during the course of your research.
You need to have these stories, but without the data that can be found in many Mississippi cemetery records, you may have trouble proving whether or not a lot of stories are actually the truth, or something that has been passed down so long that the original story is completely distorted.
Mississippi Cemetery and gravestone inscriptions are a rich source of information for family historians. For Definitions of all Cemetery Terms See Symbols on Gravestones and Their Interpretations
Here is a great example of this. You may have an elderly relative tell you a story about an ancestor who died while fighting an important military battle. The Mississippi cemetery records can prove or disprove this claim.
Having actual proof is important because you want to make sure that the research you do leaves information for future generations of your family to use to learn more about their history.
You do not want to have information in your genealogy that may not be true, and using Mississippi cemetery records can help ensure this does not happen.
Things You Can Learn from Mississippi Cemetery Records
Not only can you prove or disprove a lot of family tales, you can learn a lot more about your family history through Mississippi cemetery records.
One of the best things about Mississippi cemetery records is that you can not only learn about a particular person in question, but also about other ancestors.
This is because the Mississippi cemetery records often contain names of spouses, next of kin and other family members of the deceased.
Other things you can learn include:
- How your ancestors died
- Where your ancestors died
- How old your ancestors were when they died
These are just a few of the things that these records can tell you.
If you are tracing your family history and you have ancestors from this area, you need to request Mississippi cemetery records to ensure that your research is complete and accurate.
Research In Mississippi Cemetery Records
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History card catalog can provide a guide to published county cemetery books.
There is also a card index of Mississippi Cemetery and Bible Records that is constantly being added to. It was originally started in 1949 by the Mississippi Genealogical Society since 1949.
Several libraries across Mississippi have unindexed single volumes of cemetery records available.
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) has created the Bible and Cemetery Records Collection. It can be useful to researchers, but it is not fully indexed. There are volumes devoted to Adams, Bolivar, and Hinds counties, as well as other individual counties. However, some volumes cover cemeteries in scattered locations.
The Genealogical and Cemetery File is another good source of information for researchers. It is a collection of file folders that lists unpublished cemetery records collected from researchers throughout the years, along with other documents.
Cemeteries are listed according to section, township, and range in the “State Cemeteries” typescript, which can be found at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
A county by county typescript list from the WPA is also available. When used along with county maps, it can lead researchers to cemeteries of interest.
The website for the Mississippi State Archives also lists an index of state cemeteries. Mississippi grave registrations are available on microfilm. The list is not complete, but it can be used to locate some veteran graves.
Famous People Buried in Mississippi Cemeteries
| County | Name / Date / Cemetery | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adams | Leathers, Thomas P. 12/20/1904 – 3/10/1905 Natchez City Cemetery |
Owned and captained 8 different steamboats by the name of Natchez. Leathers was the captain of the famous steamboat Natchez which raced the steamboat Robert E. |
| Lafayette | Faulkner, William 9/25/1897 – 7/6/1962 Oxford Memorial Cemetery |
Author, Nobel Prize Winner. Born William Cuthbert Falkner he was the oldest child of Murray Falkner and his wife Maud Butler. |
| Stone | Dean, Jay Hanna ‘Dizzy’ 1/16/1910 – 7/17/1974 Bond Cemetery |
Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player, Broadcaster. He was one of the most colorful personalities ever associated with the sport of baseball. |
| Washington | Lee, Hubert Louis 2/2/1915 – 11/5/1982 Leland-Stoneville Cemetery |
Korean War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War as a Master Sergeant in Company I, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. |
Mississippi Cemeteries
| Cemetery Name | Cemetery City |
|---|---|
| Cedar Lawn Cemetery | Jackson |
| Cedar Lawn Cemetery | Philadelphia |
Mississippi Cemeteries & Graveyards Links
- Web: Mississippi, Find A Grave Index, 1798-2011
- Find a Grave – Mississippi Cemeteries
- The Mississippi Political Graveyard
- Mississippi Cemetery Books
