Professor
George P.
Lewis
George P.
Lewis, teacher and professor during the late
1800s, taught in several
states before coming to Sherman, Grayson
County, Texas in 1883.
According to census records and news reports
he was born in Alabama but
raised and partially educated in Columbus,
Muscogee County in western
Georgia. In 1870 George was enumerated
as a student living in
the household of Ann Marion in the 4th ward of
Columbus, along with two
older sisters and two toddlers by the surname
of Lowsby. Just
two years later he enrolled in Atlanta
University on September 29,
1872. It is unclear at this time if he
graduated from the
University. He left the school "for
vacation" and became a
Principal at Talbotton colored school after
receiving his Teacher's
Certification.
On December 3, 1874 George married Fannie J.
Howard at Columbus; they
were the parents of one son and one daughter.
The 1880 shows 27 year old George plus
his wife, Fannie, and
5-year-old son, George, residing in Columbus,
Muscogee Co., Georgia;
his birthplace was noted as Alabama and his
race as mulatto.
Fannie died two weeks after their 8th
anniversary.
In Memoriam
"Mrs. Fannie J. Lewis, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Alex. Howard, and
wife of Prof. G.P. Lewis, departed this life
Sunday evening, December
17, 1882. Fannie was born in Columbus,
Georgia, May 12, 1853.
She was married December 3, 1874...." (Columbus Daily
Enquirer,
December 31, 1882, pg. 1)
In
the 1870s and early 1880s Mr. Lewis resided in
Columbus, Muscogee Co.,
Georgia and was active in civic and political
affairs. He was
a member of Chosen Friends Lodge No. 1554,
G.U.O.O.F. (Odd Fellows) and
spoke at their 6th anniversary celebration in
on August 11, 1879,
giving the history of the order from its
organization in 1846 in New
York (Daily
Enquirer-Sun,
Tuesday morning, August, 12, 1879, pg.4)
He was also a
member and officer of the Hamack Lodge No. 28,
K.W.M. (Daily
Enquirer-Sun,
The November 1880 list of registered voters in
the city of Columbus
listed George P. Lewis and gave his residence
in Ward 1, his age of 27
and his occupation as that of teacher. (Daily
Enquirer-Sun,Wednesday
morning, November 24, 1880, pg.4)
Mr.
Lewis was the first Principal of Claflin School,
the colored school in Columbus,
Georgia, serving for six years, 1876-1881
before being dismissed.
His salary was $60 per month. (Daily
Enquirer-Sun,
Friday Morning, June 29, 1879 & Saturday
morning, June 12,
1880, pg.4) In September 1880, he had a
total of 9 boys and
27 girls in his classroom on opening day of
the 1880-1881 school year. (Daily
Enquirer-Sun,
Tuesday morning, September 14, 1880, pg.4).
At the close of
the 1880-1881 school year, Principal Lewis
oversaw the annual
exhibition of the colored public schools given
at Springer's Opera
House each spring with the proceeds from the
entertainment to be used
for the purchase of furniture and other items
for the school. The class
of 1879 was the first class to graduate from
the colored
school. (Daily
Enquirer-Sun, Friday Morning, June
29, 1879 &
Sunday morning, May 22, 1881, pg. 4)
In 1882 Prof. Lewis opened his own school,
Lewis Normal School,
operating it for a year. "The closing
exercise of George P.
Lewis' colored normal school will take place
at Springer Opera House
Wednesday evening...(Columbus
Daily Enquirer, June 10, 1883) He
then moved
to Howard Academy (colored) in 1883 at Ocala,
Marion County in northern
Florida, where he stayed for approximately
three months before heading
for Texas in December of that year.
New York
Globe
Saturday, December 1, 1883
Prof. Lewis, who was in charge of the Howard
Academy, has resigned his
position as principal, having accepted a like
position in Sherman,
Texas. Prof. H.W. Chandler now
presides.- - - - Ocala Banner
Howard
Academy was established in 1866 as a
Freedman School after
the Civil War and was the first Black school
in Marion County.
The first building was a small 2-room
frame building, which
burned around 1887. (Woodbury, Pinkney,
ed. The Struggle for Survival:
a partial history of the Negroes of Marion
County, 1865-1976. Ocala,
Florida: Edited & prepared by Central
Florida Community
College. Black Historical Organization of
Marion County, c1977).
Years later the campus consisted of a
beautiful six-room
structure.
Howard Academy
Ocala, Florida
c1915
In Sherman, Texas
"A note from Prof. Geo. P. Lewis, colored,
formerly principal of the
colored public school of this city, brings
the information that he now
has charge of the city public schools of
Sherman, Texas." (Columbus Daily Enquirer,
December 23, 1883, pg. 3)
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