Turner County was created by act of the legislature on August 18, 1905, and was named for Capt. Henry Gray Turner, who was captured by Union troops at Gettysburg. A resident of Nashville and later of Quitman, he served in the legislature and in Congress from 1881 to 1897. About 1855, the Battle of Sandy Sink was fought two miles east of Cool Springs with the Indians under Billy Bow Legs. Among the first county officers were Sheriff John B. Cason, Ordinary W. A. Greer, Clerk of Superior Court C. L. Royal, Tax Receiver V. A. Freeman, Tax Collector T. E. Brown, and Treasurer J. H. Gorday.