Twiggs County was formed on December 14, 1809 from part of Wilkinson County. Wilkinson County was created May 11, 1803 from Indian lands ceded in 1802 and 1805. Marion was Twiggs County's first county seat. Because the citizens of Marion did not want the "iron horse" to come through town, it became a ghost town and by 1868 the courthouse was moved by ox cart six miles to Jeffersonville and reassembled. A fire in 1901 destroyed the courthouse and virtually all records. Read Macon Telegraph & New's account of fire.
Twiggs County was named after Major General John Twiggs, a Revolutionary War hero. John Twiggs was born in Maryland on June 5, 1750 and died in Richmond County, GA on March 29, 1816. Not long before the war started he came to Georgia from Maryland as a young mechanic. He entered the army as captain and rose rapidly to the rank of Brigadier-General.