Lamar County Roots

My name is Tammy Howard-Westmoreland. Welcome to Lamar 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 Lamar County that you are willing to share with other researchers, let me know. Just email me at tammy.howard@live.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 Lamar County Roots.

• Lamar County Cemeteries. We have quite a few cemeteries with burial listings that include tombstone photos. We plan to add more photo listings soon! I am sure there are some cemeteries in Lamar County that are not on the list. How about giving us a hand by sending information on the cemeteries we're missing.
• Oral Baptist Church Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. Located just south of Sumrall on Hwy 589. 312102N, 0892952W.
• Pine Ridge / Hartfield Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. Located on Hwy 589 about 5 miles north of Purvis. 311208N, 0892640W.
• Lee Cemetery burial listing with photos of each tombstone. From Purvis go north on Hwy 589 about 6 miles & turn right at Lee Cemetery sign. Go about 1/2 mile on dirt road. 311319N, 0892659W.

On March 13, 1904 Lamar County was created from the second judicial district of Marion County and the northern part of Pearl River County. It was the seventy-sixth county to organize in the state and was named in honor of the Mississippi politician and jurist Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II. Lamar served as U.S. Representitive, U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Interior under Pres. Cleveland, and also served as a United States Supreme Court Justice. Lamar is the only Mississippian to have served on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The town of Purvis, incorporated in 1886, is the county seat and was named for John Purvis, an early settler and landowner in the area. In April 1908 a hurricane sweeping up from the Gulf of Mexico hit the town killing seven people and injuring hundreds more. During the storm the courthouse clock stopped at precisely four p.m. The clock remained at that time in honor of the dead and injured until the courthouse burned in 1938.

Lamar County is bordered by Covington County on the north, Forrest County on the east, Pearl River County on the south, Marion County on the west, and Jefferson Davis County on the northwest. Cities and towns include Purvis, Sumrall, Lumberton, and West Hattiesburg.

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