Jenkins County was organized in 1905, its land taken from Screven, Bulloch, Burke and Emanuel counties. It is named for Governor Charles J. Jenkins, while Millen, the county seat, is named for a distinguished attorney, John Millen of Savannah. Jones House, a stage coach stop in Jenkins County, was more than 100 years old when Union General William T. Sherman's troops looted and set it afire. The same troops, however, scurried to put the fire out when Mrs. Jones refused to leave her sickbed.