Brooks County
Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Brooks County. This County created by Act of the Legislature Dec. 11, 1858, is named for Preston Smith Brooks, zealous defender of States rights. Born in S.C. Aug. 6, 1819, Brookes served inthe Mexican War & in Congress. He died June 27, 1857. The first County Officers included Ordinary Angus Morrison, Sheriff Enoch Hall Pike, Clerk of Superior & Inferior Courts D.W. McRae, Tax Collector George Alderman, Tax Receiver John Delk, Treasurer William F. Speight, Surveyor Jeremiah Wilson, Coroner John T. Devane, State Senator Shadrack Griffin and Representative John T. Edmondson. 014-1 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1956
Erected by Georgia Historical Commission
The Story
Created by the legislature on December 11, 1858, Brooks County was named for Preston Smith Brooks, the South Carolina congressman and outspoken defender of states' rights who had served in the Mexican War and in Congress. The marker records the county's first slate of officers, from ordinary and sheriff to surveyor and coroner, as its government took shape on the eve of the Civil War.
Why it matters
A county named for a fiery states'-rights figure just three years before secession is a fossil of the sectional tensions then pulling the nation apart.
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Related people
- · Preston Smith Brooks
Related events
- · Mexican-American War
Themes & tags
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