Tangipahoa Parish was created on 1869 , from Livingston, St. Tammany, St. Helena and Washington Parishes and the parish name comes from an Acolapissa word meaning ear of corn or those who gather corn. The Parish seat is Amite .
It is borderd by Amite County, MS (northwest), Pike County, MS (northeast), Washington Parish (east), St. Tammany Parish (east), Lake Pontchartrain (southeast), St. John the Baptist Parish (south), Livingston Parish (west), St. Helena Parish (west) . Cites, Towns and Communities include Amite City, Hammond, Independence, Kentwood, Loranger, Manchac, Natalbany, Ponchatoula, Roseland, Tangipahoa, Tickfaw . The Official County Website is located at http://www.tangipahoa.org/ . See Extended History for More information.
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Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.
PLEASE READ FIRST!!!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court has Court Records from 1869, Land Records from 1869, Probate Records from 1869 and Marriage Records from 1869 and is located at 100 North Bay, Suite 100, P O Box 667, Amite, LA 70422, (985) 748-4146.
The Clerk of Court for each parish in Louisiana performs the functions of more than one office. As the Recorder, the office of the Clerk of Court receives, files, records and indexes all mortgages, conveyances and all other instruments recorded in the Public Records for the Parish. The Clerk’s Office receives and files all pleadings, such as petitions, answers, motions and other filings in Civil and Probate matters, as well as indictments, bills of information and other filings in Criminal matters. The Clerk’s Office also handles special Juvenile matters and Criminal Neglect cases. Another function of the Clerk’s Office is the issuance of Marriage Licenses and recording their returns after the marriages are performed.
You may also search the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which does cover Louisiana and does cover surrounding states. Many pioneers and settelers bought land from the government instead of individuals.
Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Court Records. Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Court Records by clicking the link below:
Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information.
Vital Records Registry Office of Public Health, 325 Loyola Avenue, P.O. Box 60630. New Orleans, LA 70160; Tel: 504-568-5150 504- 568-5152 (automated) is the repository for all Louisiana Birth Certificates less than 101 years old and all Louisiana Death Certificates less than 51 years old. Existing records of births which occurred in Louisiana more than 100 years ago or deaths which occurred more than 50 years ago are maintained by the Louisiana State Archives. They have the following records:
Order By Mail: SUBMIT APPLICATION, COPY OF STATE OR FEDERAL PHOTO ID AND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO: Vital Records Registry, P.O. Box 60630, New Orleans, LA 70160. Please do not send cash in the mail. IF NO RECORD IS FOUND, YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED AND FEES WILL BE RETAINED FOR THE SEARCH PER R.S. 40:40. See LOUISIANA VITAL RECORDS REGISTRY OFFICE OF PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HOSPITALS SERVICE FEES for current cost of all documents.
Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable
Parishwide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana are 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1870 and 1880.
Statewide Records that exist for Louisiana are 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. After the 1803 purchase of Louisiana it became an American possession; therefore, the first federal census report taken for the state was 1810.
Caution should be used particularly with the AIS indexes for Louisiana. Many of the French and Spanish names were transcribed wrong and numerous omissions exist. Many of these population schedules have been published. See Louisiana Census Records. Volume I: Avoyelles and St. Landry Parishes, 1810 and 1820 & Louisiana Census Records. Volume II: Iberville, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, and Rapides Parishes, 1810 and 1820 by Robert Bruce L. Ardoin & The Census Tables for the French Colony of Louisiana from 1699 Through 1732 by Charles R. Maduell, Jr. These books are on 1 Family Archive CD
As early as 1860 the federal government began attempts to identify Native Americans. In 1900 and 1910 it created a special Indian schedule. The first page was the same as the population census only it had “Indian Population” as its heading. The second page provided for such important information as: tribal affiliation, the tribe of each parent, the person's Indian blood quantum, and—if not full blooded —their precise racial mixture. These schedules will be found at the end of the ward or district in which the Native American resided.
There are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Union Veterans Schedules were conducted in 1890.
Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Census Records. Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Census Records by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Louisiana and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Louisiana showing all the parish boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in parish boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Louisiana showing all the parish boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in parish boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps.
Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Maps. Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Maps by clicking the link below:
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Military Records. Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Military Records by clicking the link below:
Tax records are a valuable but little-used source. Almost everything was taxed: household and personal goods, livestock, slaves, and property. Tax lists can be used as a substitute census, to create complete neighborhoods for a neighborhood study, establish relationships, locate land, and so on. Unfortunately, most of these lists no longer exist in Louisiana, but those that are extant are usually found in the tax assessor's office in the Tangipahoa Parish courthouse.
Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
There are many churches and cemeteries in Tangipahoa Parish. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Tangipahoa Parish Tombstone Transcription Project.
Most Catholic church registers are still in the local parish church. Many of them have been translated and published.
The recording of cemetery inscriptions in Louisiana has long been a project of the DAR and numerous genealogical societies. Genealogical publications continually print these inscriptions in their issues.
Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Tangipahoa Parish Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Tangipahoa Parish Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Tangipahoa Parish, located near the center of the Florida Parishes of Louisiana, is a physical composite of most the habitats typical of the lower areas east of the Mississippi River. Prior to 1801, the region was sparsely populated as much of the area was densely forested with pine, oak, gun ash, birch, holly, magnolia, poplar, and cypress.
The name, Tangipahoa, means “ear of corn” or “those who gather corn” which referred to the sub-tribe of the Acolapissa. These Native Americans inhabited the area when French brothers, Pierre and Jean le Moyne, known as Sieurs Bienville and Iberville, arrived to colonize Louisiana. What would become the southern boundary of Tangipahoa Parish was part of the route used by Native Americans to travel from Mobile and Pensacola, through Pass Manchac to Illinois and the Great Lakes regions. Members of the Acolapissa Tribe led Iberville through Manchac, a shortcut to avoid the long winding Mississippi River en route to Biloxi where Bienville awaited. The brothers bestowed the names “Maurepas” and “Pontchartrain” on nearby lakes to honor the French finance ministers who supported the New World French colony, which Sieur Bienville named New Orleans.
The French controlled their Louisiana Territory in the New World for some time, but later the Spanish government took over the area, while the British controlled the area known as the Florida Parishes. Pass Manchac marked the border between Spanish and British Territory. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 gave the United States the Louisiana Territory; however, the Florida Parishes was not part of the Purchase. After a revolt by local citizens in 1810, their flag, a five-pointed star on a blue field, flew over our area marking the new Independent Republic of West Florida. The revolt by the independent local settlers was put down after seventy-two days, and the area remained an international boundary between Spanish Territory and the United States until 1813 when Louisiana was made a state, which included the area.
The coming of the railroad in the mid 1800's laid the way for development of the area, with business interests developing along the railroad line. It became inconvenient for persons to travel so far to transact their business in the nearby parishes' seats of government, prompting concerned citizens to develop their own parish and governmental center to be carved from the territory of the four surrounding parishes. The boundaries were fixed beginning at the state line west of Osyka four miles, south along the Natalbany Creek and Tickfaw River, along the Lake and along the Tchefuncte River to the state line, and west to the place of origin. The boundaries were fixed by legislative law in March 1896 and Tangipahoa Parish was founded. The Parish (called ‘county’ in other parts of the United States) is 51 miles long and 18 miles wide and includes 500,000 acres or 790 square miles. Since Tangipahoa Parish’s founding, the population has steadily increased. In 1870, the population was 7,928; in 1960, the census showed 59,434; and in 2000, the population had grown to 100,588 persons with 36,588 households. Source: Out of Four-One: Tangipahoa Parish History 1869-1969, Irene R. Morris, Tangipahoa Parish Council.