Samuel Elbert - Elbert Co., GA
Posted by: 
Lat34North
N 34° 06.741 W 082° 52.001
17S E 327831 N 3776186
Located at the old Elberton train depot on N Oliver St (Georgia Route 77), Elberton, GA.
Waymark Code: WM8A17
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 02/25/2010
Views: 1
Samuel Elbert
Elbert County was named in honor of General Samuel Elbert, an outstanding military leader in the Revolutionary War and distinguished Governor of the State of Georgia in 1785-86.
Born in 1740, Elbert was orphaned at an early age; achieved notable success in mercantile pursuits and as an Indian trader; and eventually filled every political office Georgia had to offer. He married Elizabeth Rae of Savannah; and they had six children.
General Elbert had a lifelong interest in Masonry and was Grand Master of Georgia Masons. He died in 1788 and was buried on an Indian Mound near the Savannah River. In time, the burial place was forgotten; but his remains were discovered following desecration of the Mound, and in 1924, were re-interred with full military honors in Colonial Park Cemetery at Savannah.
When a new County was formed in 1790 at the confluence of the Broad and Savannah Rivers, the Georgia Legislature honored the recently deceased Revolutionary Patriot and highly popular Governor by naming it Elbert County. The county seat, created in 1803, was named Elberton, further perpetuating the memory of General Samuel Elbert.