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Mitchell County was created December 21,
1857. Named in honor of Henry Mitchell,
who rose to the rank of General of the Georgia State
militia during the American
Revolution. As an officer, he retrieved the fallen
United States colors during the
battle of Buford, North Carolina and was wounded by a
British officer with a saber.
Mitchell County was created from Baker County on Dec.21,
1857 by an act of the
General Assembly (Georgia Laws 1857, page 38).
The county was formed from all portions
of Baker County east of the Flint River.
Georgia's 123rd county was named for Gen. Henry Mitchell
(1760-1839), a hero of
the American Revolution, state militia officer and
former President of the
Georgia Senate (1808-1809).
Additionally, the legislation creating
Mitchell provided for election of county
officials in March 1858. After that election, the
new justices of the inferior
court were empowered to select a "central and convenient
place" to serve as a
county seat, to lay off the site into lots and streets,
to provide for erection of a
courthouse and other public buildings, and to make
temporary arrangements for a
site to conduct county business until a courthouse could
be built. At some point,
in 1858, the inferior court designated Camilla as county
seat and had a courthouse
built. On Dec. 14, 1858, the legislature
incorporated Camilla to consist of all territory
within one mile of the courthouse (Georgia Laws 1858,
page 135). Purportedly, the
town was named for Camilla Miller, granddaughter of
General Henry Mitchell.
Mitchell's tombstone carries the representation of his
life:
- Born February 8, 1761, Sussex County, Virginia
- Died May 17, 1839, Hancock County, Georgia
- Buried in Sparta Cemetery, Hancock County,
Georgia
His
tombstone is inscribed:
"To the memory of General Henry
Mitchell a native of Sussex County, Virginia, who
departed this life
on the 17th of May, 1839, in the seventy-ninth year of
his age. This stone is placed by his bereaved
consort. Animated by the same love of liberty which
inspired the tongue of Henry and the sword of
Washington, he cheerfully exposed himself to the hazards
of war, and pouring out his blood like water
at Buford's defeat where he was cloven down by a British
saber while gallantly bearing the standard of
his country. Within a few years of the establishment of
American Independence, he became a citizen of
Georgia; and in the course of a long life filled various
offices of trust and dignity, with honor to himself
and usefulness to the state. In his character and
deportment, he united the simplicity of Republican
manners with the sternness of Republican principles.
Embalmed in the memory of noble deeds, his
name will live when this frail monument shall crumble
into dust."
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