Miller County was created by act of the legislature on February 26, 1856, and was named for Judge Andrew J. Miller, who died in 1856. A commander of the Oglethorpe Infantry, he served in the legislature for more than twenty years and was several times President of the Senate. He long championed a bill to give married women separate property rights. Among the first county officers were Sheriff Delmar Averett, Clerk of Superior and Inferior Courts Thomas S. Floyd, Ordinary Isaac Bush, Tax Receiver John Fiveash, Tax Collector West Sheffield, and Surveyor James D. Pickern.