Telfair County was designated in 1807 with territory taken from Wilkinson County. It is named for Governor Edward Telfair who was born in Scotland, championed the colonies' complaints against King George III and served as a delegate to the Council of Safety and to the Continental Congress. He was twice governor of Georgia. McRae, the county seat, is named for a pioneer Scot family of the area. Most of the early settlers here were immigrants from Scotland, Presbyterians who had come first to North Carolina and then moved south to obtain better lands.