This County, created by Act of the Legislature Aug. 14, 1912, is named for Gen. Joseph Wheeler, famous Confederate Cavalry leader and Major General of Cavalry in the Spanish War. He twice saved Augusta from Kilpatrick`s Union Cavalry, at Waynesboro, Ga., in 1864 and at Aiken, S.C. in `65. For his brilliant work at Santiago Teddy Roosevelt called him `a regular gamecock.` First County Officers were: Ordinary Wm. B. Kent, Superior Court Clerk John Durden Brown, Sheriff J.F. Wright, Tax Receiver W.T. Hadden, Tax Collector J.A. Martin, Treasurer Daniel Pope, Surveyor E. Miller and Coroner James J. Brantley.
GHM 153-1 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1954
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Ken Moser.