Sumter High School: Class of 1906

The Truth... What is it?

Sumter High School, Class of 1906

Dave Pettigrew, SHS class of 1971, has developed an outstanding website in which yearbooks are being scanned onto his free website (HERE..click on a yearbook image) with many class photos, lists of graduates, and an outstanding graphics and text page of the school's history (HERE).

On this page you are now viewing, the memorial #s are memorials on the free Find a Grave (separate but owned by the subscription genealogy website, Ancestry.com).

I want to directly link to some old, online newspaper sources (Sumter's The Watchman & Southron via Library of Congress' Chronicling America, which detail some history and the senior class graduates.

S. C. petition of Legislature, May 1888, HERE.
Commisioner J. T. Green's 1890 letter about the schools, HERE.
Sumter public school system opens 2 Sept 1889, young John B. Duffie, superintendent.
First year (9 months) ends (students: 310 whites & 294 blacks), HERE (Watchman & Southron issue of 4 June 1890, vol. IX #43, page [image] 3, 2nd column from viewer's left near page top).

Links to classes 1889-1912, HERE . W & S of 1910 has 1891-1910 lists HERE and W & S of 1912 lists 1891-1911 HERE.

***(1889-1913, only 10 grades; 1914-1944, only 11 grades)***

***(Student names: before maybe 1915, names by which people were baptized were frequently & without legal process, changed before, say, age 12. Grade school nicknames often changed as the person became older (HERE). In cases of those with 1 or 2 middle names, either or both of those might be deleted as they became older or married. Old printed source material was printed by a more tedious process than today & typos were not uncommon. Females are especially hard to track down from names on graduate lists; so, the birth year range of a graduation group becomes helpful.)***

Sumter HS Class of 1906 (W&S 6 June 1906, p. 4, column 2 ["S. H. S. Commencement"], HERE):
(the name they apparently "went by" in italics)

Boys (2):

Irvine Furman Belser, (born 1889), FaG mem. # 88268455
Vernon Logan Stansil, (born ); Sumter 1907 City Directory lists him as a book keeper for DeLorme Pharmacy; FaG mem. # (nothing else found yet).

Girls (10):

Vara Julia Barden, (born 1887), FaG mem. # 112770715
"Lemie" Mary Zelime Bowman, (born 1889), FaG mem. # 135491646
Bertha Margaret Bultman, (born 1888), FaG mem. # 38356651
Willena Foshee Cook, (born 1887), FaG mem. # 128789136
Nellie Mellett, (born 1889), FaG mem. # 9287935
Lillian Leighton Owens, (born 1887), FaG mem. # 131482217
Birdie Leighton Owens, (born 1888), FaG mem. # 132160552
Lydia Warren Richardson, (born 1890), FaG mem. # 169541892
Marion Edna Stack, (born 1885), FaG mem. # 140858749
Marie Matilda Terry, (born 1888), FaG mem. # 90487318

Lincoln HS Class of 1906:
(very simple graduation notice & no details, W&S 6 June 1906, p5, column 3,"Commencement at The Lincoln Colored Graded School", HERE)

Names that appear to be students vs program participants: none listed.

Years 1892-1912, LINKS:

1891

1892

1893 (no graduates, HERE)

1894

1895

1896

1897

1898

1899

1900