Pickering County was one of the original counties of Mississippi Territory in the United States. Together with Adams County, Mississippi Territory, Pickering County was a first-level subdivision of the land that had been known as the Natchez District under the British and Spanish. [1] The dividing line between Pickering and Adams was at Fairchilds Creek. [2] Established in 1798, and originally named for Cabinet member Timothy Pickering, the county was subdivided into Claiborne County and Jefferson County in 1802. [3] [4] The original Pickering County also included some of the land that was later to become Warren County, Mississippi. [1] Pickering County was the seat of power of Natchez Junto, the Green family–Cato West faction in territorial politics. [5]
Timothy Pickering was a member of the Federalist political party, who had been "bitter in their denunciations of the [Louisiana Purchase], for the expanding West could be expected to draw off their population, rival their trade, and some day dominate the Union." [6]
