Mississippi Territory: Governors: 1798-1817
| Governor of the Mississippi Territory [1] | |
| 18 Aug 1798 - 7 May 1801 | Winthrop Sargent [2] |
| Secretary, exercising the powers, and performing the duties of Governor of the Mississippi Territory | |
| 7 May 1801 - 23 Nov 1801 | John Steele [3] |
| Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Mississippi Territory [1] | |
| 23 Nov 1801 - 4 Dec 1803 | William Charles Cole Claiborne [4][5] |
| Secretary of the Mississippi Territory, acting as Governor of the same [6] | |
| 4 Dec 1803 - 10 May 1805 | Cato West |
| Governor of the Mississippi Territory | |
| 10 May 1805 - 3 Mar 1809 | Robert Williams |
| Secretary, exercising the powers, and performing the duties of Governor of the Mississippi Territory [7] | |
| 3 Mar 1809 - 30 Jun 1809 | Thomas Hill Williams |
| Governor of the Mississippi Territory | |
| 30 Jun 1809 - 7 Oct 1817 | David Holmes [8][9] |
- The commissions issued for the appointment refer to the office as Governor in and over the Mississippi Territory.
- Sargent was commissioned as governor on 7 May 1798 and received his commission at Cincinnati on 28 May 1798 , where he served as the Secretary of the Northwest Territory. Sargent arrived to the seat of government of Mississippi, Natchez, on 6 Aug 1798 and assumed the functions of governor on 18 Aug 1798.
- Steel exercised the functions of Governor from 3 Apr 1801 to 23 Nov 1801, the period which elapsed between the departure of Sargent from, and the arrival of Clairborne to Natchez. The term of Sargent expired on 7 May 1801.
- Claiborne was commissioned as governor on 25 May 1801. He received his commission in Nashville, Tennessee, on 2 Aug 1801, and assumed the functions of governor in Natchez on 23 Nov 1801.
- Also in Louisiana. Claiborne was commissioned on 31 Oct 1803 to exercise the functions of Governor General of Louisiana and departed from Natchez on 4 Dec 1803. He assumed the office of acting governor general of the ceded territory of Louisiana on 20 Dec 1803 and was subsequently commissioned as governor of the Orleans Territory, taking the oath of office on 2 Oct 1804.
- Also in official use: Secretary, exercising the powers, and performing the duties of Governor of the Mississippi Territory.
- Also in official use: Secretary of the Mississippi Territory, exercising the powers, and performing the duties of Governor thereof.
- Holmes was commissioned as governor on 7 Mar 1809 and took the oath of office on 9 Mar 1809 in Washington, D.C., arriving in Natchez, on 30 Jun 1809.
- Following the adoption of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi, all officers civil and military, holding commissions under the authority of the United States or of the Territory of Missouri, were authorized by a provision of the Constitution to continue in office until superseded.