Page "Columbia County, Georgia" Paragraph 120

Some notable persons either born in or who resided in Columbia County include: Oliver Hardy ( comedian, born in Harlem ), Paul Hamilton Hayne ( poet and author ), Henry Louis Benning ( Confederate general for whom Fort Benning is named ), William Few, Abraham Baldwin, George Walton, George W. Crawford, William H. Crawford ( presidential candidate in 1824 ), Thomas Watson ( populist leader and Georgia senator born in Thomson when it was still in Columbia County ), George McDuffie ( South Carolina governor and senator in the early 19th century ), Jesse Mercer ( a long-time preacher in the county for whom Mercer University is named ).