Greene County, Mississippi: History
Historically this area of the state was occupied by the Choctaw people, who constituted the largest tribe. French, Spanish and English colonists traded with them in the early colonial years. in 1830, President Andrew Jackson gained passage of the Indian Removal Act by Congress, and proceeded to force the Choctaw and other of the Five Civilized Tribes out of the Southeast to lands west of the Mississippi River. The land was sold to European-American settlers.
County boundaries went through numerous changes as population increased and new counties were created. Along with neighboring Jones and Perry counties, Greene is characterized by its sandy soil and Piney Woods. These characteristics limited the productivity of farming.
The county economy originally depended on subsistence farmers who ran herds of cattle and hogs, which were allowed to roam freely in the pine forests and bush. Together with the game they hunted, residents sold the meat animals to markets in Mobile, Alabama, the nearest commercial center. While some farmers tried to cultivate cotton because of the high prices when the market was strong, most in this area had small farms and the owners held few enslaved African Americans. The soil did not support very successful cotton crops; in 1860 only 16 of the 213 farmers in this county raised cotton.