Emanuel County was created by acts of the legislature on December 10, 1812, and December 6, 1813, and was named for David Emanuel, governor in 1801, several times a legislator, and president of the Senate. A place 1 mile from the center of the county was designated as the county site in 1814 and in 1822 was named Swainsboro for a prominent local family. The name was changed to Paris in 1854, but the original name was later revived. Among the first county officers were Sheriff Josiah Whitney, Clerk of Superior and Inferior Courts Stephen Rich, and Tax Collector and Receiver James Fitzgerald.