Irwin County began as a large territory ceded by the Creek Indians in 1818, but was divided into 10 counties: Worth, Tift, Ben Hill, Colquitt, Cook, Berrien, Lowndes, Brooks and Thomas counties plus parts of Turner, Wilcox, Lanier, Echols, Coffee and Atkinson counties. It bears the name of Governor Jared Irwin who helped expose the infamous Yazoo Fraud, a land scheme. Ocilla is the present county seat, although earlier that distinction belonged to Irwinville where Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union Troops.