Towns County was created by Act of March 6, 1856 from Rabun and Union Counties. It was named for George Washington Towns, Governor of Georgia from 1847-1851. Gov. Towns was born in Wilkes County, May 4, 1801, of a Virginia family. Self-educated, he was a merchant, lawyer, legislator, state senator, Congressman. He died in 1854. First officers of Towns County, commissioned April 21, 1856, were: Andrew I. Birch, Sheriff; Martin L. Birch, Clerk Superior Court; James H. Moore, Clerk Inferior Court; Milton Brown, Tax Reciever; George M. Denton, Tax Collector; Robert S. Patton, Coroner; James Alston, Surveyor; John W. Holmes, Ordinary.
