Lee County was an original land lot county comprised of lands obtained from the Creek Indians in 1826. Later divisions of its territory created Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell, Webster and parts of Clay, Chattahoochee and Marion counties. Richard Henry (Lighthorse Harry) Lee, father of Robert E. Lee and the man who in the Continental Congress had made the motion for independence, is remembered in this county's name and that of the county seat, Leesburg.