LeCounte (Family)
These families are of Huguenot origin and are descended from Guilaurne LeConte, who was born in Rouen, France. On revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he fled France, possibly to Holland, and then accompanied William of Orange to England as an officer in his army. He emigrated to America, married Marguerite de Valleau, daughter of Pierre Joyeulx Valleau of Martinque, and resided in New York, New York. He died in February 1710. The family name was continued through Pierre LeConte, a physician, who married Valeria Eatton. Two of their children, William and John Eatton LeConte, established homes in Georgia before the Revolutionary War. William LeConte had homes at Savannah, Georgia, and on his Sans Souci Plantation on the Ogeechee River. John Eatton LeConte had a family at Shrewsbury, New Jersey, and a winter home at Woodmanston Plantation in Liberty County. Both brothers actively supported the American rebellion.
John Eatton LeConte married Jane Sloane of New York, New York, and their children were William, Louis, and John Eatton LeConte Jr. Only Louis LeConte figures in Liberty County history. He was born in 1782, graduated from Columbia College in New York, New York, and studied medicine, but never attained the position of medical doctor. He inherited Woodmanston Plantation and permanently relocated in Liberty County during the early years of the nineteenth century. In January 1812 he married Ann Quarterman, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Quarterman, first cousins, of Liberty County. Their children were William, Jane, John, Louis Jr., Joseph, and Ann LeConte.
John LeConte (1818-1891) and Joseph LeConte (1823-1901) became nationally known physicians, scientists, writers, and educators. Both were the first faculty members of the University of California at Berkley just after the Civil War. They remained there the rest of their lives. John LeConte served as third president of the institution from 1876 to 1881 and married Eleanor Graham. Only one of their children, L. Julian LeConte, survived. Joseph LeConte married Caroline Nisbet and four of their children survived. Caroline (Charles H.) McMillan, a great-granddaughter of Joseph LeConte, was residing on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, when this book was written.
It is through Ann LeConte that the LeConte family line continues in Liberty County. She married John M.B. Harden, a Riceboro physician, and one of their children was John LeConte Harden (1839-1902), who married Annie Olivia Way (1849-1927), daughter of Samuel Way, a Walthourville physician. One of their children was Annie Harden, who married Hugh C. Norman of Walthourville (see Norman Families in this appendix), and their children were Harden C., Herbert P., Lucille, Laura Katherine, Minna Miller, Lillian, Laura Isabel, and Mildred Norman.
Two of these children, Herbert P. and Lillian Norman, were still residing in Liberty County when this book was written. Herbert P. Norman married Betty Martin, daughter of Leta Stafford Martin Saunders of Hinesville, and their children are Elizabeth (“Betty”) Louise Norman, who married Richard D. Sutton of Atlanta, Georgia; Hugh Palmer Norman, who married Sandra Allen of Gainesville, Georgia, and Daniel (“Danny”) Edward Norman, who married Katherine (“Kathy”) Pierce of Jacksonville, Florida. Lillian Norman married George Barwick Boroughs of Liberty County, and their children are Margaret Elaine Boroughs, who married Larry C. Sprowles of Louisville, Kentucky; George Barwick Boroughs Jr., who married Anne Elizabeth Hutchins of Columbus, Georgia, and Norma Jean Norman, who married Percy Weldy of Savannah, Georgia.
