Editing Columbia County, Georgia (section)

===Formation of Columbia County===
Just before and immediately after the [[American Revolution|Revolution]], numerous [[Virginia]]ns and [[North Carolina|North Carolinians]] migrated to the frontier of Georgia above Augusta, including the area around Brownsborough. After the Revolution, residents disagreed as to whether Augusta or Brownsborough should be the [[county seat]] of Richmond County. At the insistence of William Few, the county was partitioned. The new county formed from Richmond was named "Columbia" (for the origin of the name see [[Columbia (name)|Columbia]]); this did not end the controversy about location of the county seat. The citizens of Columbia County turned to arguing among themselves. Supporters built one courthouse in Brownsborough, and those of Cobbham built another. The courthouse at Cobbham was used; and Brownsborough in short order ceased to exist. In 1793, part of the county was taken, combined with part of [[Wilkes County, Georgia|Wilkes County]], and formed into [[Warren County, Georgia|Warren County]].

Around 1799, William Appling deeded a tract of land to the county for the purpose of building a courthouse. It was near Kiokee Creek and the Baptist Church which Marshall had founded. A courthouse was constructed, and served the county until around 1808. The small town that existed around the church and courthouse came to be known as "Columbia Courthouse." In 1809, the Baptist congregation left the town and constructed a new meeting house (a building which survives) several miles away near the junction of Kiokee and Greenbrier creeks. That same year, construction began on a new courthouse, which was completed in 1812. In 1816, Columbia Courthouse was chartered as the [[Appling, Georgia|Town of Appling]], named for the Appling family who had donated the land to the county, and for Colonel John Appling, a local resident who died in a campaign against the [[Seminole]].