John De La Howe (ca. 1710-1797)

Front: Dr. John De La Howe, a French physician, came to South Carolina in 1764 and settled in the New Bordeaux community by the 1780s. His will left most of his estate, including Lethe Plantation, to the Agricultural Society of South Carolina to establish a home and school for underprivileged children. The Lethe Agricultural Seminary was founded here after De La Howe's death in 1797. Initially restricted Reverse: to 24 boys and girls from what was then Abbeville County, with preference given to orphans, the school emphasized manual training, or instruction in operating a self-sufficient farm. In 1918 it was turned over to the State of South Carolina, opened to children from every county in the state, and renamed John De La Howe School; it is now a group child care agency serving over 200 students a year.