Ben Hill County was created by act of July 31, 1906, from Irwin and Wilcox Counties and was named for Benjamin Harvey Hill (1823-1882), “one of America’s greatest orators.” A staunch supporter of the administration in the Confederate Senate, he later became an influential member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate after the War Between the States. The county’s first officers, commissioned Jan. 5, 1907, were C.M. Wise, Ordinary; D.W.M. Whitley, Clerk Superior Court; W.H. Fountain, Sheriff; E. Gibbs, Tax Receiver; W.L. Smith, Tax Collector; J.H. Goodman, Treasurer; Oscar Barron, Surveyor; and William McCormick, Coroner.