Schools (1872-1875)

First School Commis­sioner

 

John Boyd Mallard (1808-1877), son of John and Lydia Mallard of Liberty County, became the first schools commis­sioner of Liberty County in 1872. He graduated from Sunbury Academy, and attended the Theological Seminary at Colum­bia, South Carolina. He was a teacher at Walthourville Union Academy, principal of the Midway Female Seminary in Baldwin County, Georgia, and a professor at Oglethorpe College. He was a deacon in Midway Church, and an historian.

 

The citizens of Liberty County were taxed $2.79 per $1,000 worth of property they owned for school purposes in 1875. The Georgia Department of Education says that there were five privately owned schools for white students in Liberty County in 1875.

 

They were:

 

Walthourville Union Academy: Principal, A.M. McIver. It had two teachers, 35 pupils, and the monthly tuition was $2.50 per pupil.

 

Bradwell Institute: Principal, Samuel D. Bradwell. It had four teachers, 63 pupils, and the monthly tuition rate was $3.00 per pupil.

 

Tranquil Academy: Principal, W.W. Winne. It had one teacher, 19 pupils, and the monthly tuition rate was not recorded.

 

Jones Creek Academy: Principal, Joseph P. Martin. It had one teacher, 19 pupils, and the monthly tuition rate was $1.72 per pupil.

 

Excelsior School, 24th Militia District: Principal, J.W. Shivers. It had ten pupils, and the monthly rate was $2.25 per pupil.

 

Taylors Creek Union Academy in a slump since the Civil War, was not mentioned, probably because it was being reorganized as Liberty Institute.