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Professor George P. Lewis  An
April 1888 report of the colored school reported an enrollment of 205
pupils taught by Professor G.P. Lewis, who had charge of the grammar
department; Mrs. H.K. Lewis, wife of the Professor, who had charge of
the intermediate department; and Mrs. F.K. McPherson, who had charge of
the primary department. Funds from the 1887 school exhibition at
the end of the school year were used to purchase and install a fence
enclosing the school house. The students and teachers had worked
to beautify the school grounds during the 1887-1888 school year by
planting shade and ornamental trees on the grounds, rose bushes and
flower mounds, planting flower seeds, etc. The boys who had set
out trees on the grounds were: Peter Foreman, 15 trees; Ned Moffett, 11
trees; Wm. Groner, 4 trees and 2 cedars; Louis Green, 6 trees; Al
Davidson, 2 trees; Lee Foreman and Jim Kelley, 1 tree; Jesse Miller, 1
tree; Letitia Ligon and Hattie Taylor, 3 trees; Annie Watson, 3 trees;
Louis Groner, 3 trees; and Abe Love, 3 cedars for a total of 58 trees.
(Gainesville Daily Hesperian, Tuesday, April 27, 1888, pg.3)
Notice of the 1887-1888 end-of-the-school-year exhibition was published in the local paper on Tuesday, June 5, 1888.  Professor Lewis also contributed his time and energy towards the cause of colored A.F. and A. Masons and the Cooke County Republican Party.
 The Gainesville Colored School became known at the Booker T. Washington School.  Booker T. Washington School (formerly Gainesville Colored School) Gainesville, Cooke Co., Texas Class of 1916 Front row, left to right: Norma Burleson Glenn, Prof. A.M. Moore, Clara Johnson Brunner Back row, left to right: Herman Blackman, Willie Ed. Woody, Allen Moore  The next day's local paper announced that Professor Lewis had been engaged to take charge of a colored school at Denton, Denton County, Texas for the 1889-1890 school year.  Professor Lewis continued his political activities and in November 1892 returned to Sherman to speak at a colored meeting in behalf of Gov. Hogg's re-election as the Democratic candidate for Governor. (The Galveston Daily News, Sunday, November 6, 1892, pg.13)  James Stephen Hogg   African-American Biography Index African-American Roots Ethnic Research Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |
