Camden County was formed from the old colonial parishes of St. Mary and St. Thomas and was one of the eight original counties of Georgia created by the State Constitution of 1777. The county was named for Charles Pratt, Earl of Camden, Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor of England. Camden County gave territory to Wayne in 1808 and 1812, and to Charlton in 1854. St. Marys was the temporary county site until Jefferson, also called Jeffersonton, was named the first permanent county site by an act of Nov. 29, 1800. Jefferson served as the seat of government for sixty-nine years, from 1801 to 1871. An election held on Jan. 3, 1871, authorized removal of the county seat from Jefferson to St. Marys, which then served as county seat for fifty-two years, from 1871 to 1923. An act of Aug. 11, 1923, authorized removal of the county seat from St. Marys to Woodbine, where the present courthouse was erected in 1928. Among the first and early settlers were Talmage Hall, James Woodland, Thomas Stafford, David and Hugh Brown, John King, John Hardee, Henry Osborne, Jacob Weed, John Web, Abner Williams, Charles and John Floyd, Nathan Atkinson, Isaac and Richard Lang, Joseph Hull, William Berrie, Thomas Miller, John Bailey Sr., his nephew John Bailey, and Lewis DuFour. The first county officers were Alexander Semple, Clerk of Court; Wilson Williams, Sheriff; John Crawford, Coroner; Nathaniel Ashley, Tax Collector; and Robert Brown, Register of Probates. A number of the early settlers came from Acadia, San Domingo, Minorca, and Spanish East Florida.