Mississippi is the 20th State Admitted to the Union

The Mississippi Territory was organized on April 7, 1798, from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina.

It was later twice expanded to include disputed territory claimed by both the United States and Spain. From 1800 to about 1830, the United States purchased some lands (generally through unequal treaties) from Native American tribes for new settlements of Americans. On December 10, 1817, Mississippi was the 20th state admitted to the Union.

The territory destined to become Mississippi was ceded to the United States by Spain in 1795. Congress admitted Mississippi as the twentieth State on December 10, 1817, and the first Senators, Walter Leake and Thomas Hill Williams, took their seats the following day.

George Poindexter, a Delegate, a Representative and a Senator from Mississippi; born in Louisa County, Va., in 1779; had a sporadic education; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1800 and commenced practice in Milton, Va.; moved to the Territory of Mississippi in 1802 and practiced law in Natchez; attorney general of the Territory; member, Territorial general assembly 1805; elected as a Delegate from Mississippi Territory to the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Congresses (March 4, 1807-March 3, 1813); United States district judge for the Territory 1813-1817; served in the War of 1812; upon the admission of Mississippi as a State into the Union was elected to the Fifteenth Congress and served from December 10, 1817, to March 3, 1819; chairman, Committee on Public Lands (Fifteenth Congress); Governor of Mississippi 1819-1822; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1820 to the Seventeenth Congress and in 1822 to the Eighteenth Congress; appointed in 1830 to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Robert H. Adams; subsequently elected, and served from October 15, 1830, to March 3, 1835; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Twenty-third Congress; chairman, Committee on Private Land Claims (Twenty-second Congress), Committee on Public Lands (Twenty-third Congress); moved to Kentucky and resumed the practice of his profession in Lexington; returned to Jackson, Miss., and continued the practice of law until his death on September 5, 1853; interment in Jackson Cemetery.