Rural School Graduates in 1927

Class of 227 Graduated from Rural Schools – Two Tied for First Honors

“Two hundred and twenty-seven graduates of rural schools received diplomas from County Superintendent Julia C. Mason at Paris, Saturday. It was the finest lot of boys and girls the county seat has ever seen in recent years.

The program for the afternoon consisted of a reading, “The Psalm of Life”, by Miss Mary King, of Granville; a piano solo by Miss Virginia Dawson, of Cross Hollow; an oration, “The Gettysburg Address”, by Dallas Wingate; a humorous reading, “So Was I”, by Charley Cully; a patriotic oration by Charles H. Dickson, and an address by Miss Mabel Hamilton, supervisor for the Kirksville district. A Cradle of Science chorus, composed of Warren W. Woods, Bryon Randall, Helen Steel, Charley Wood, C.J. Wood and Hazel Mae Fisher, made the biggest hit of the day.

Orilla Porter, of the Greenwood school, and Mary Margaret Lipp, of the Bryan school, tied for first honor in scholarship, each making a grade of 97 1-8. James Johnson, of Salem, was second, with a grade of 97 1-16, and Pearl Yager, of Fuller, third, with 96 plus. Thomas Clay Jones and Dorothy Lee Barnes, both of Afflick, tied for fourth place with grades of 96. Other graduates whose grades were above 90 were:

Riley Thornton Smith and John Hawkins, of Washington, Frances E. Story, Peak, Mildred Brengle, Bryan, Alice Norburg, Combs, Elizabeth Hamilton, Greenwell,

Leslie Harden, Lucille Turner, Lucille Porter, Greenwood, Harry S. Priddle, Mason, R.C. Peck, Fuller, Fay Conley, Anderson, Fay Elsberry, Branham, Dorothy Eugene Sharp, Margaret Pauline Norman, Alice Marie Norris, Richard Clay Brashears, North Fork.

Other graduates whose grades were up to excellent standards were: Sharp – Laura Emmons, Thelma and Loyd Wilson; Washington – Geraldine Conley; Peak – Herbert Vanlandingham; Bryan – Nettie Frances Couch; Goss – Jewell Mills; Sanford – Thomas Krummel; Combs – Louise Painter, La Ray Garrison, Lambert Hamilton; Mt. Pleasant – Glessie Overfelt; Marr – Elbert McGlothlin; North Fork – Blanche Garrett, Herbert Marrow; Spencer Chapel – Vernon Byars, Virginia Byars, Margaret Bourne, Chester Barrow, May Thompson; Capp – Ada Mae Near, Lutie and Tessie Pollard, Woodrow Pollard; Mason – Edna Le Grand; Fuller – J.D. Williams, Fred Carter; Anderson – Virgil Willingham, Densel Garnett, Faye Conley; Long Branch – Velma Slonaker, Johnnie Davis; North Fork – Robert Walen Sharp, Chas. Stanley Poage, Marlon Edward Brashears, Henry Crawford Moore; Washington – Geraldine Conley; Oak Ridge – Opal Newbrough; Granville – Cecil Gaines, Anna Lee Long, Vernlee Magruder, Edra Moore, Herschel Relford; Gleason – Eugene Jones; Wright – Kathleen Jarboe, Fred Greene, Allene Greene, Lena Belle Hatton, Lucille Hatton; Starr – Howard Carter; Carter – Myrtle Newbrough; Pleasant Green – Fay Neta Heathman, Durwood Orr, Baxter Boulware, Opal Johnston, Alberta Mallory, Chester Lee Mallory, Lillian McCann; Cedar Bluff – Enid Shadwell, Clark Jackson; Hickory Grove – Emmett and dewey Greening, Mavernine Stribling, Virginia Smith; Tewell – Louis Gardner, Ruby Hagan, Loren Hagan, Loretta Hagan, Roy Hagan; Foreman – Bill Jones; Turner – Braxie Gaines; Woodlawn – Virginia Hendren, Goldie Legrand; Crutcher – Elmer Kotsenburg, Ruth Woods; Tulip – Lee Reed; Afflick – Chas. Harold Campbell, Paul Bronson Dean; Smizer – Neele Sager, Woodrow Barrow; Kirtley – Otis Hendren; Wafer Ash – (rest of article missing…)”

Source: Newspaper article from unknown source with handwritten date of 1927; provided by Don Duvall.