Dawson County was created by act of the legislature on Dec. 3, 1857, and was named for William C. Dawson, who died in 1856 after serving in Congress from Dec. 1836 to Nov. 1842, in the U.S. Senate from 1849 to 1855, and as commander of a brigade in the Creek Indian War of 1836. Among the first county officers were Sheriff Samuel R. Fendley, Ordinary Henry K. Mikel, Clerk of Superior Court Daniel P. Monroe, Clerk of Inferior Court John Matthews, Tax Receiver David H. Logan, Tax Collector John Bruce, Treasurer James B. Gordon, Surveyor Andrew I. Glenn, and Coroner John W. Beck.