Holmes County sheriffs were elected for two-year terms from 1848 (when the county was created) until 1865.  That office was usually considered the most prominent and perhaps the most powerful of all county offices.  No records are available for the years 1867 to 1873, a "twilight" or "political wilderness" era that followed the War Between the States.  It often has been called the Reconstruction Era, a period of uncertainty reflecting at the local level a bitter struggle for political control of the state.  That era was effectively ended with the election of Democrat George F Drew as governor in 1876 to succeed Republican Government Marcellus B Stearns.