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The land that would form Effingham County was ceded to the
English by the Creeks in the Treaty
of Savannah on May 21, 1733, confirmed and expanded by agreements
of 1735 and 1736. By an act
of March 15, 1758, the colonial legislature created seven
parishes. The area of present-day Effingham County primarily
fell in St. Matthews Parish, which stretched along the Savannah
River north of Savannah. With the outbreak of the American Revolution,
Whig forces took control of government in Georgia. On Feb. 5,
1777, they adopted the state's first constitution -- the Constitution
of 1777. Art.
IV of that document transformed the existing colonial parishes
into seven counties, with Indian ceded lands forming an eighth
county. Effingham County, which was fourth on the list and thus
is considered Georgia's fourth county, consisted of all of Saint
Matthew Parish and that part of Saint Philip Parish north of
the Canoochee River (see
map). The county was named for Lord Effingham, an English
nobleman who championed the rights of the American colonies.
In 1793, the legislature created Screven County from portions
of Effingham and Burke counties. Land from Effingham County also
was used to enlarge Bryan County (1794) and Chatham County (1850).
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1777
1796
1822
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1855
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1865a
1865b
1874
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1885a
1885b
1895
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1952
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1970a
1970b
1999
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