Cass County was formed from Bowie County land, created on April 25, 1846, and organized on July 13, 1846. It was named in honor of Gen. Lewis Cass (1782-1866), a United States soldier and statesman who strongly advocated the annexation of Texas. The important river port city of Jefferson served as county seat until Marion County was carved out of Cass in 1860, after which Linden, near the center of the county, became county seat. During the wave of sectional patriotism in 1861, the name Cass was changed to Davis in honor of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate states, and the original name was restored in 1871.