For a period of about nine months there existed a county in the Mississippi Territory known as Elk County. The map above shows that it extended from the Mississippi state line and included present day Lauderdale, Limestone, and most of western Madison counties.
What follows are a few paragraphs from the book "History of Limestone County, Alabama":
A proclamation of Gov. David Holmes of the Mississippi Territory on May 9, 1817 created Elk County, although there are doubts that it ever actually functioned as an entity of the Mississippi Territory.
In that proclamation Gov. Holmes declared "whereas for the execution of process civil and criminal and for extending the operation of the laws throughout the Territory, the Governor thereof is authorized by the ordinance to lay out such parts of the district to which the Indian title shall have been extinguished, into counties, and whereas a large tract of country lying within the limits of this Territory hath been lately acquired in virtue of treaties and compacts made and entered into with the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes of Indians upon which a number of the citizens of the United States have formed settlements, and whereas it is required for the purposes aforesaid and for the preservation of good order that the said tract of country should be laid off into counties; therefore know ye, that by virtue of the powers in me vested as Governor of the Mississippi Territory I do hereby erect the following counties within the limits of the aforesaid tract of country, that is to say: All that tract of country bounded on the north by the south boundary of the State of Tennessee, on the west and south by the river Tennessee and on the east by Madison County, shall form one county, to be called and known by the name of Elk; the Courts of Justice of which will be held at Ft. Hampton."
Accordng to the late Peter Brannon, a long-time curator of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, an election was held on April 12, 1817 in the region around Sugar Creek, to choose its officials. At this election, Jonathan Ridgeway and James Wilkinson were chosen justices of the peace, Alex Perry was elected captain of the militia district and Joseph Moore was elected lieutenant. Samuel McKinney was picked as ensign by the voters and Pleasant P. Lloyd and Samuel Noble were elected constables.
On May 24, 1817, other officials for Elk County were chosen by the inhabitants of the region. At this election Thomas D. Crabb and George Wilder were named justices of the quorum; Thomas Bibb, destined to be Alabama's second governor in a few years, was elected chief justice of the Orphan's Court. Justices of the peace selected were Zedekiah Tate, Thomas Redus (who built the first grist mill south of the Tennessee state line in 1808), Thomas O'Bannon, Nicholas P. Bond and John Allison. For sheriff the voters picked "Anthy Alverton" (or Ulverton), although there is reason to believe that actually the sheriff of Elk County was Anthony Winston who is listed later.
William Edmondson was clerk of the Superior Court selected at this election and William Rutledge was the first man chosen as constable, in which position he acted as returning officer for the election.
All the men named at this election for officers were moving spirits in the formation of Limestone County, created Feb. 6, 1818, after the organization of the Alabama Territory.