Benton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,729. Its county seat is Ashland. Local lore has it that residents convinced the post-Civil War Reconstruction government that Benton County was to be named for U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton, but the name actually honored State Congressman and Confederate Brigadier General Samuel Benton from nearby Holly Springs.