This small community was named for Captain S. D. Sessums, a Confederate veteran who owned a large amount of land in this area. The Sessums community developed around a branch line of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad that ran from Artesia to Starkville after the Civil War. In its heyday, the community included several stores, a post office, church, school, cotton gin, railroad depot, and horse track. Sessums was once known as a dairy center for Oktibbeha County.