Jasper County was drawn from Baldwin County in 1807, originally called Randolph County to honor John Randolph of Virginia. Members of the Georgia General Assembly, however, became irritated with his stand on national issues in 1812 and voted to name the county for a Revolutionary War hero, Sergeant William Jasper, who died trying to retrieve a flag during the siege of Savannah. By 1828 Randolph was back in Georgia's good graces and another new county was named for him. Monticello, the county seat, pays tribute to Thomas Jefferson, using the name of his home.