Editing Kiln, Mississippi (section)

===From earliest inhabitants to United States annexation===

The earliest inhabitants of the area were [[Choctaw]] and [[Muscogee]] [[Native Americans of the United States|Indians]], who lived along the banks of a river (later named the Jourdan River) emptying into the [[Bay of Saint Louis]]. These tribes hunted, fished, and trapped on the land prior to settlement by the French. In 1682, [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]], a French explorer, claimed the region for [[France]] and named it "[[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]]", in honor of [[Louis XIV of France|King Louis XIV]], and the [[Mississippi Gulf Coast]] became part of the Lower Louisiana District.

Following the French claiming of the land, French settlers, many from [[Canada (New France)|Canada]], began to move into the area surrounding modern-day Kiln. These settlers were exclusively male and were mostly hunters and trappers. The only commercial activity was in [[hide (skin)|hides]] and [[Fur|pelts]], which were sent to New Orleans for shipping.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keating |first1=James |title=European Colonization of the Mississippi Gulf Coast during the Eighteenth Century |journal=The Historian of Hancock County |volume=January 2017 |pages=1–3 |url=http://www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/newsletter/historians/Historian_2017-01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807193717/http://www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/newsletter/historians/Historian_2017-01.pdf |archive-date=2017-08-07 |url-status=live |access-date=August 7, 2017}}</ref> The first known white settlers in the area were Jean Baptiste Nicaize (Necaise) and his family. It is likely they moved from the [[Wolf River (Mississippi)|Wolf River]] area near current-day [[DeLisle, Mississippi|DeLisle]] to Kiln and acquired the J. B. Necaise claim under a Spanish [[land grant]] around 1800 or before. There is a record of marriage on May 11, 1745, of Jean Baptiste Nicaize to Marie Cathering Miot (Meaut) in the Wolf River area. This record also noted that the father of J. B. Necaise was a native of [[Paris]], France.<ref name="Early History">{{cite web |title=Early History of the Kiln |url=http://www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/vignettes/early-history-of-the-kiln/ |website=Hancock County Historical Society |access-date=July 20, 2017}}</ref> The Jourdan River received its name from Noel Jourdan, an early settler on the river, who had received a Spanish land grant at the present site of [[Diamondhead, Mississippi|Diamondhead]]. Jourdan later served as a delegate to the [[Constitution of Mississippi#1817 constitution|Mississippi Constitutional Convention of 1817]], and he was the first [[legislator|representative]] of Hancock County in the [[Mississippi Legislature]]. The area came to be known as the Jourdan Community by its inhabitants.<ref name="Early History"/> With the arrival of white settlers from the East, the Indian tribes eventually left the area. By the turn of the 19th century, the last full-blooded Choctaw Indians left the area for land grants in [[Oklahoma]].<ref name="Kiln Annunciation">{{cite web |title=Brief History of Kiln and Annunciation Parish |url=http://www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/reference/vf.php?t=subjects&vf=Annunciation%20Church%20Kiln&i=0 |website=Hancock County Historical Society |publisher=Kiln Annunciation Church |access-date=July 21, 2017}}</ref>

In 1763, France ceded Louisiana east of the [[Mississippi River]] to [[Great Britain]] in the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]]. The area became part of the colony of [[British West Florida]]. In 1783, British West Florida was ceded to [[Spain]] as part of the [[Peace of Paris (1783)|Peace of Paris]], and the area became part of the province of [[Spanish West Florida]]. The United States claimed West Florida in 1803 as part of the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. However, Spain disputed this claim. Tensions between the United States and Spain grew as many Americans began to move into the area. A large number of these immigrants were Tories who resented Spanish rule.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Isaac Joslin |title=The American Intervention in West Florida |journal=The American Historical Review |date=January 1912 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=290–311 |publisher=Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association |doi=10.2307/1833000|jstor=1833000 }}</ref> On May 14, 1812, immediately prior to the start of the [[War of 1812]] with Great Britain, with whom Spain was allied, the United States assigned the claimed area to the [[Mississippi Territory]],<ref>{{cite web |title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875 |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002/llsl002.db&recNum=771 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=August 6, 2017}}</ref> even though the area was still governed by Spain. On February 12, 1813, the [[United States Congress]] passed a statute giving President [[James Madison]] authority to occupy the area.<ref>{{usstat|3|472}}</ref> In April 1813, an American force occupied [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] and received the surrender of the Spanish commander.