LEE COUNTY, GA HISTORY AND LOOKUP

County History Books

Lee County, Georgia: a History by Lee County Historical Society (Georgia) (1983) – 910 Pages
Source: Family Search
Book ID: CH.2025.06.24.2355.FS

Lee County, Georgia: A Genealogical Overview

Located in the rich agricultural belt of Southwest Georgia, Lee County is an area defined by its history as part of the Creek Nation and its development as a major center of the antebellum plantation economy. For genealogists, its past is shaped by the Georgia Land Lotteries, its reliance on cotton culture, significant record loss due to courthouse fires, and multiple changes to its county seat.

I. County Formation and Evolution

Lee County’s relationship with the Creek Nation, its parent territory, and its daughter counties is a critical piece of information for researchers tracing family lines in the region.

  • Year of Creation: 1826.
  • Parent County: It was formed from territory ceded by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs. The land was originally part of the vast original Lee County, which was distributed via land lottery. Therefore, researchers will not find pre-1826 records in a parent county, but rather in state-level land lottery records.
  • Original Territory & Daughter Counties: Lee County’s original territory was significantly larger than its present-day boundaries. Its lands were used to form other counties.A portion of the county was used to create Sumter County in 1831 and another large portion was used to create Dougherty County in 1853. Researchers with ancestors in these areas must consult Lee County records for the time period before their creation.
  • Boundary Changes: Aside from the creation of its daughter counties, Lee’s boundaries have remained largely stable since the 1850s.
  • Bordering Counties:
    • Sumter County (north)
    • Crisp County (east)
    • Worth County (southeast)
    • Dougherty County (south)
    • Terrell County (west)
    • Webster County (northwest)

II. Settlement and Early History

  • Early Inhabitants: Before European-American settlement, the area was the territory of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, with numerous towns and villages along the Flint River and its tributaries.
  • First Pioneers and Settlement: Following the controversial Treaty of Indian Springs in 1825, the land was opened to white settlement through the Georgia Land Lottery of 1827. This led to a rapid influx of settlers, primarily of English descent from the Carolinas and Virginia. The county was named for Richard Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, a Revolutionary War hero and the father of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The society was founded on a cotton plantation economy, which relied heavily on the labor of enslaved African Americans.
  • Civil War Significance: As a major cotton-producing county in Georgia’s “Black Belt,” Lee County was economically vital to the Confederacy. While no major battles were fought in the county, it supplied soldiers and vast amounts of agricultural resources for the war effort. The war’s end brought economic devastation and the social upheaval of Reconstruction, which profoundly reshaped the county.

III. Genealogical Records and Resources

This section provides the practical information needed to locate ancestral records.

  • County Seat: Leesburg, Georgia. The county seat has changed multiple times, a crucial fact for researchers. The original seat was Starkville (1827-1856). It was then moved to Wooten (1856-1872) before being established in Leesburg in 1872 to be near the new railroad.
  • Record Loss & Preservation: Lee County is a significant challenge for genealogists as it is a “burned county.” The courthouse in Starkville burned in 1856, and another fire at the Wooten courthouse in 1858 destroyed most of the county’s records prior to that time. Researchers must rely on state-level records, federal censuses, newspapers, and surrounding counties to piece together family histories before the late 1850s.
  • Location of Records:
    • Lee County Courthouse: Located at 100 Starksville Ave N, Leesburg, GA 31763. This is the central repository for the county’s surviving historical records, primarily those created after the 1858 fire. The Probate Court holds marriage and probate records, while the Clerk of Superior Court holds land records.
  • Vital Records:
    • Birth and Death Records: Statewide registration in Georgia began in 1919. Records are held by the State Office of Vital Records. The Lee County Probate Court may also have some delayed birth certificates.
    • Marriage Records: Surviving marriage records from the late 1850s onward are held by the Lee County Probate Judge.
  • Libraries with Genealogy Collections:
    • Lee County Library: Located in Leesburg, it serves as a starting point for local history research and has published local histories and other genealogical resources.
    • The Georgia Archives: Located in Morrow, this is the primary state archive and an essential resource for any Lee County researcher due to the extensive record loss. It holds land lottery records, colonial records, state tax digests, and military records that are vital for pre-fire research.

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