Dr. de la Howe established residence at Lethe Farm in 1774 and tended wounded Patriot soldiers there in August 1776. He was compelled to join a Loyalist Regiment in 1782 after claiming British imprisonment twice for assisting Patriots.

John de la Howe’s dream was for his estate to become a year-round agricultural based school for underprivileged children, which came about upon his death in 1797, encompassing Lethe Farm and his tomb surrounded by virgin forest.