Brooks County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia, on its southern border with Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,243. The county seat is Quitman. The county was created in 1858 from portions of Lowndes and Thomas counties by an act of the Georgia General Assembly and was named for pro-slavery U.S. Representative Preston Brooks after he severely beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with a cane for delivering a speech attacking slavery. Brooks County is included in the Valdosta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.