Echols County was created by act of the legislature on Dec. 13, 1858, and was named for Col. Robert M. Echols, who served for 24 years as a member of the General Assembly, was president of the Georgia Senate, and was a brigadier general in the Mexican War, during which he died. Among the first county officers were Sheriff James S. Carter, Ordinary James P.Y. Higdon, Clerk of Superior and Inferior Courts Jesse P. Prescott, Tax Receiver John E. McMullen, Tax Collector Samuel E. Prescott, Treasurer James Carter, Surveyor Duncan McLeon, and Coroner John Sellers.