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Other Information:
The Dec. 14, 1826 act naming and organizing Lee County providing
that on the first Monday in May 1827, voters of Lee County would
assemble at "Pond Town, or Williams' Store" and elect
county officials (Ga. Laws 1826, p. 57). The act also authorized
the justices of the inferior court to select a county seat and
build a courthouse and jail. An act of Dec. 22, 1828 that organized
the county provided that initial county elections would be held
in the home of Benjamin Matthews (Ga. Laws 1828, p. 63). That
same act authorized the first justices of the county's inferior
court to contract for erection of a courthouse and other county
buildings. What served as courthouse for the next nine years
is not known, but reportedly a courthouse was built in Starkville
in 1837. In 1854, the General Assembly repealed Starkville's
status as county seat and directed that a commission select a
new county seat by Oct. 15, 1854. That commission selected a
new site, which the county seat was moved to Webster, where a
new courthouse was built.
What happened next is not exactly clear. Lee County's courthouse
is known to have burned -- though sources differ as to 1856 or
1858. In Feb.1856, the legislature designated Starkville again
as county seat (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p. 117). The old 1837 courthouses
was used until it was destroyed by fire in 1856 or 1858 (sources
vary). On March 1, 1856, the legislature authorized Lee County
to levy a special tax for construction of a new courthouse and
jail (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p. 546). Construction of the new courthouse
was completed in Feb. 1861.
On Aug. 20, 1872, the General Assembly moved Lee's county
seat from Starkville to Wooten Station (see
map) on the Southwestern Railroad (Ga. Laws 1872, p. 264).
That act named commissioners with responsibility for erecting
a courthouse and jail at the new county seat. A building in Wooten
used as a temporary courthouse burned in 1872. In 1873, the legislature
authorized Lee County to borrow up to $10,000 to build a new
courthouse and jail (Ga. Laws 1873, p. 229). Construction began
on a courthouse but was halted in Nov. 1874 after a grand jury
recommended that the unfinished building and all materials be
sold. Subsequently, various buildings were rented until a new
courthouse was completed in Dec. 1880. This courthouse served
until the present courthouse was completed in 1918. A rear addition
was built in 1975.
County Courthouse Historical
Marker: Click
here
County History:
On Feb. 12, 1825, a group of Creek Indians led by William McIntosh
signed the Treaty of Indian Springs, in which they ceded all of their remaining
lands in present-day Georgia. Subsequently, in an act of June
9, 1825, the General Assembly provided that the land ceded by
the treaty be divided into five sections, surveyed into districts
and land lots, and distributed by land lottery (Ga. Laws 1825,
p. 3). On Dec. 14, 1826, the legislature redesignated the five
land sections as the counties of Lee, Muscogee, Troup, Coweta,
and Carroll (Ga. Laws 1826, p. 57). As provided in that act:
. . . all that part of the territory lately acquired from
the Creek Indians, lying between the Flint and Chattahoochee
rivers, immediately above the old lines of Early county, and
known as the first section, shall form one county to be called
Lee.
Despite the fact that the five counties were not named until
Dec. 14, 1826, June 9, 1825 is generally accepted as the date
of their creation, for that was the date of the act establishing
their respective boundaries.
Later, Randolph County (1828) and Sumter County (1831) were
created entirely from Lee County. Also, parts of Lee County were
used to help form Marion County (1827) and Terrell County (1856).
According to most sources, Georgia's 61st county was named
for Virginia politician Richard
Henry Lee (1732-1794), a leader in the American colonies'
independence movement. However, the legislation creating Lee
County makes no mention of who was being honored, and it may
have been noted Revolutionary War hero Col. Henry
"Light Horse Harry" Lee(1756-1818). While visiting at the
home of Nathanael Green's daughter on Georgia's Cumberland Island,
Col. Lee died and was buried on the island (though his remains
were removed to Virginia in 1913). Eight years later, the General
Assembly created a new county named Lee. Contemporary evidence
as to which Lee the legislature was honoring has yet to be discovered.
However, in his Historical Collections of Georgia published
in the 1850s, George White credited the honoree as Richard Henry
Lee.
County Seat:
The Dec. 14, 1826 act naming and organizing Lee County providing
that on the first Monday in May 1827, voters of Lee County would
assemble at "Pond Town, or Williams' Store" and elect
county officials (Ga. Laws 1826, p. 57). The act also authorized
the justices of the county's inferior court to select the location
of the county seat and to erect public buildings. However, until
a county seat was selected, Lee County inferior and superior
courts were to meet at the same site where the first election
was to be held (i.e., "Pond Town, or Williams' Store").
On Dec. 20, 1832, the legislature provided that Lee County's
county seat be permanently located on lot land 241 in the 13th
district (Ga. Laws 1832, p. 48). The act also directed that the
county seat be named "Starksville" in honor of General
John Starke. Starke (1728-1822) was a hero of the American Revolution.
On Dec. 21, 1839, the legislature incorporated Starksville.
Some Lee County residents objected to the location of their
county seat, and on Nov. 25, 1847, the legislature authorized
a referendum for the first Monday in February 1848 on removal
of the county seat. The referendum, however, failed.
On Dec. 26, 1851, the legislature once again designated Starkville
[now spelled without the "s" in the original version
of "Starksville"] as permanent county seat of Lee County
(Ga. Laws 1851-52, p. 457). However, three years later, on Feb.
7, 1854, the legislature repealed Starkville's status as county
seat (Ga. Laws 1853-54, p. 268). The act named James Rouse, Griffin
Smith, Robert Reeves, William J. Parker, and Richard T. Bradley
as commissioners to select a new county seat near the center
of the county, to purchase land, and to have town lots laid out
at the site. The same five men were also authorized to have a
courthouse and jail constructed at the new county seat. To fund
the costs associated with moving the county seat, the justices
of the inferior court were allowed to levy a special tax in Lee
County for 1854 and 1855. The legislature gave the commissioners
until Oct. 15, 1854 to move the county seat to its new location,
so at some point between Feb. 7 and Oct. 15, the commissioners
designated the village of Webster as Lee County's new county
seat.
Webster only served as county seat for two years. On Feb.
16, 1856, the legislature created Terrell County from western
Lee County and eastern Randolph County (Ga. Laws 1855-56, p.
117). The same act repealed the 1854 act that had directed the
removal of the county seat from Starkville, further directing
that Lee County business once again be performed at Starkville.
The act further provided for payment to town lot owners in Webster
because of losses sustained from removal of the county seat from
Webster.
On Aug. 20, 1872, the legislature directed that the county
seat of Lee County be removed to Wooten Station (Ga. Laws 1872,
p. 264), and three days later incorporated the community as the
town of Wooten (Ga. Laws 1872, p. 281). Originally, Wooten Station
was a stagecoach stop and post office known as Sneed's Store
(later shortened to Sneed or Snead). In 1857, Henry Wooten was
named postmaster of Sneed -- and apparently became a community
leader. When the railroad later came to Sneed, a train station
was built and designated as Wooten's Station.
The Aug. 1872 act changing Lee's county seat designated Isaac
P. Tison, Henry L. Long, Fred. H. West, William T. Sadler, and
Virginius G. Hill as commissioners with responsibility
. . . to select some eligible place, at or near Wooten Station,
in said county, upon which shall be located the public buildings
of said county in the event a sufficient quantity of land for
a town can be procured at said point, by donation or purchase,
without paying therefor more than one-half of the net proceeds
of the sale of town lots when laid off and sold by said commissioners,
not computing the value of grounds reserved for public use;
and in case such land cannot be procured at or near said Wooten
Station, said commissioners may select, for the purposes aforesaid,
some eligible site at or near Adam Station, or any point on
the Southwestern Railroad between said stations, to obtain
lands upon such terms as they may deem proper.
The commissioners were able to obtain sufficient land at Wooten
for building a new courthouse and jail for Lee County. Even though
the 1872 act had stipulated that Lee County's new seat of government
be named Leesburg, it appears that the town remained known as
Wooten. On Feb. 28, 1874, the legislature changed the name of
the town of Wooten to Leesburg (Ga. Laws 1874, p. 201). The act
also incorporated Leesburg and provided that the charter of Wooten
enacted Aug. 23, 1872 serve as the charter of Leesburg.
Maps
Size of County (Total
Area): 362.0 square miles
County Rank in Total
Area: 74th out of 159
Population:
Lee County
City of Leesburg
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