The Toomsboro School (TTS) and It's People - by Bobill
Updated last 04-21-10 

I have gone through several versions of this article - based on studying information available to me and on new information provided by others. However, it is still a work in progress which almost certainly contains many errors. I continue to welcome your photos, comments, corrections and suggestions. I know that some do not use the internet, and I plan to print selected portions of the article and bring them to the reunion. I hope you enjoy what I've presented here as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

DIRECTORY

Oldest Photos I Have - With Discussion
Names Listed In Alphabetical Order By Last Name
Names - Grouped by Class
Photo Gallery
People Who Passed Since Last Reunion
Acknowledgements

 

William (Bo) Weaver
164 Lake One Drive
Hampton, Va 23666
(757) 826-4577  
bobillw@cox.net - E-Mail Address
Facebook Address

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Oldest Photos I Have - With Discussion

Click any icon for enlargement

I have only a few photos related to The Toomsboro School that  predate my school days, and most of my photos come from the time frame within a few years of 1951, the year I graduated from high school.  The oldest photo that I have is shown at the left (click for enlargement). The photo is purported to be that of the Union School, which was located near the intersection of Hwy 57 and the Oochie Creek Road, which is only a few miles - in the direction of Toomsboro - from The Balls Ferry Bridge. The location was not far from where my mother spent much of her childhood, and she and some of her brothers attended the Union School. It and several others schools in and around Toomsboro were closed when TTS opened about 1927 - and all the children began attending the new school.

This photo is the graduating class of 1939 and was sent to me by Diane Thompson Dixon, daughter of Wilbur Thompson. The setting looks  like the side entrance, which led to the Sunday School class rooms, of the old  Toomsboro Methodist Church. It is not the oldest photo that I have which is associated with TTS and its people, (see photos that follow). However, it shows members of an earlier class of students than those shown in the following photos. Most of these students would have entered the first grade in 1928. Wilbur Thompson is the only student  identified, but the following students were in that graduating class - Juanita Brown, Frank Crutchfield, J. B. Dominy, Perry Dominy, Eldon Cauley, Kate Kemp, William Johnson, Flanders Lord,  Ruby Lord, Marguerite Lord, Ray Lord, Charlie Ray Lord,  Susan Stubbs, Clyde Ware, Jessie Williams, Lila  Williams,  and Mamie Wood. The icon at right shows the letter from Clyde Ware to his classmates asking for 11 1/2 cents to cover the  cost of the photo. The bill for each student would have been less than one cent (that's right, less than one penny)

The next photo is the oldest photo with which I am familiar that includes a complete class of students. It shows the second grade class of the 1931 - 1932 school year, together with their teacher, Miss Benita Dixon Branan. At least four of the people in this photo still survive: Winfred (Red) Carr, front row, fourth from left, Frank Mills, front row, far right, Mary Stephens, second row, far left, and Mary Barbara Cason, second row, seventh from left. Red and Frank have lived in Toomsboro all their lives, and both are regular attendees at the school reunions, and Mary Stephens was at the Dr. Ware Celebration Day in 2006.  I have fond memories of several of these people, and I knew (or knew of) a few more. I know that several of the people shown in this photo have died, but there are some about which I know nothing more.

The left photo above shows the students in the class directly behind the class discussed above. Miss Willie Mae Hall, not shown, was the class teacher. The quality of this photo, which is about 78 years old, is remarkable. In fact, I recognized Ed Brown (second from left, front row) who was the son of Barber Brown, before I read the list of students. I know of only one survivor in this photo: Evelyn Dean is in the top row, second from right. In April I talked with Evelyn, who was the valedictorian for her class of 1943 and who now lives in Macon. I knew many of these people personally and Daisy Spivey, fifth from left, second row, was my first cousin. I know that many of these people have died, including Ed Brown and my cousin,  but I know nothing more of the rest. Again, I will appreciate any information you have about survivors. Sara Boone is identified in this photo, but it's doubtful that this is Sara. I was in contact with her in April, and she told me that she started school in Toomsboro in 1925.

The main Toomsboro school building is shown in this photo. The view shows the south end of the building which faced the Burt Brown family house. The school busses parked about 50 feet from this entrance to load and offload students. The soil in that area was red clay, and when it rained, the hallway and busses could get pretty messy. Of the three girls in the photo, Edith Lavender still survives. I talked by phone with Edith at her home in Soperton, and we had a really nice chat. The structure extending from the left side of  the main building, which can just be made out through the pine trees, was the entrance to the stage area of the school auditorium. The auditorium was a popular place; it served, not only as an assembly area for the students, but was where school plays and a variety of other shows were performed. I remember that gospel quartets, usually from the Macon area, were very popular with students and parents. The three smaller buildings seen to the left of the school building are toilets; the closest two were for boys and the other was for girls.

I have compiled a roster of Toomsboro students and teachers who still survive, but I know the list is not complete and I'm sure it contains many errors - and I will appreciate your comments, suggestions, and corrections. I have listed the people, first, in alphabetical order. If a number appears directly to the right of a name, it is the graduation year to which I have assigned that student, and you should find the student listed with other students in that year - in the second list. A name with no following number means I was unable to determine the class to which the student belonged. If you click on a name that appears as a link in either list, you should see a photo that contains the person or some other information associated with that person. The writing in parentheses to the right of a linked name contains information about the photo associated with the person. For  example, if you click on Algie Cannon's name in the first list you will see a photo of Algie and Marie Day which I made at the 2002 reunion at Wilco. Then, if you click on Algie's name in the second list, you'll see him in a group photo.

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List of Toomsboro School People - Who Survive

Listed in Alphabetical Order By Last Name.

First number denotes class year; info in parentheses describes photo.

Abott Allen 1953
Earl Allen 1958
Edna Allen Strickland 1957
Julian Allen  - 1963
Sara Allen - 1961
Totsey Ashley Moore 1959

Jonnie Bailey Stamps 1953
Mary Bailey Budrys 1956
Marie Bailey Massengale 1958
Preston Bailey 1960
Lucian Bailey 1962
Rayford Carlton Bailey1964
Ruth Baxley (Teacher)
Bernard Bloodworth
Larry Bloodworth 1955
Martha Bloodworth 1959
Billy Boone 1950
Bubba Boone (With friend - 2008 Reunion)
Gail Boone Lee  1954
Jimmy Boone 1958
Joseph A. Boone
Sharon Boone Hamner 1957
Sara Boone Baird 1938
Harris Bowdon 1951 (Back row, third from left - 51' basketball team)
Christine Brantley Lewis (With daughter Cindy - 2008 Reunion)
Barbara Brown
Buster Brown
Burt Brown
Doris Brown Poole - 1941 (With husband Fred on Caribbean Cruise. I made the photo)
Harold Brown
Geraldine Brown Carr 1945 (With husband Red - 2006 Reunion)
Marion Brown - 1961
Grady Butler - 1964
Joe Anthony Butler 1960
Evelyn Butler 1955
Merlie Butler Bennett 1945
Sylvia Butler Clements
 

Algie Cannon  1951 (With Marie Day - 2002 Reunion)
Don Cannon 1957
Harry Carnes 1957
Red Carr 1941 (With wife Geraldine - 2006 Reunion)
Mary Barbara Cason 1941
Maggie Collins Loyd 1955
Anne Colson
Doris Connell Prosser
Sybil Connell - 1957
Mary Connell -  1957
Edward Connell - 1963
Mary Alice Colson 1955
Francis Connell Moody1948
Shirley Connell
Delores Crowe Anderson 1951

Maggie Collins Loyd 1955
Betty Lou Davis - 1964
Charlie Davis 1947
Richard Davis - 1963
Rufus Davis 1933
Sara Davis Smith 1947
Charlie Day
Connie Day Overman
Faye Day - 1963
Marie Day Hatchett 1951 (Left, with sister Shirley - 2002 Reunion)
Kenneth Day 1953 (Center - Day Family Reunion Milledgeville, 2007)
Joan Day - 1963
Joyce Day Ramsey 1947
Shirley Day  1954 (With sister Marie - 2002 Reunion)
Evelyn Dean Scoggins 1942 (First grade class, top row, seventh from left)
Gladys Dean Anderson
Clara Dell Dent Powell 1960
Billy Dent  1951   (front row - second from left - 51' basketball team)
Bobbie Nell Dent ??
Marie Dent Pickett - 1963
Herbert (Hub) Dent 1957
Lavern (Hub) Dent - 1964
Shirley Dent Snider 1954
Molly Dolittle 1957
Betty Rose Dominy Criswell 1958
Lucy Etta Dominy Mills
Mary Ivey Dominy Thompson 1950 (In yellow - Thompson's Cove)
Gladys Dominy 1945
Gussie Dominy Eubanks 1951 (Fourth from  left - class  of 51' in Florida)
Melba Dominy Hooks
Marsha Duke Powers
Mary Durchhimer - 1962

C. B. Eubanks 1950 (Facing camera - 2006 Reunion)
Minnie Lee Ezell 1957

Bonnie  Harrison Ford
Dorothy Ann (Dot) Fordham Buffington 1951 (Second from right - class of 51' in Florida)
Joe Ben Fordham
Martha Fordham Tanner
Mary Alice Fordham 1957
Zennes Fordham
Bartley Freeman - 1963
Voncile (Freeman?) Bailey
David Bobby Freeman
Marie Freeman Cunningham
Rosa Mae Freeman - 1962
Wallace Freeman 1956
Norma Fulbright (Teacher)

Lilly Hall
Bonnie Harrison Ford
Dorothy Helton - 1944
Joyce Helton 1947
Morris Helton 1960
W. L. Helton 1954
Jean Hightower Butler 1956
Raynell Holland Bloodworth 1955
Doyle Holliman 1945
Elaine Hollima Hearn 1955 (2008 Reunion)
Harold Holliman 1960
Marion Holliman 1947
Sue Ellen Holliman 1948
Hazel Horne 1945
L. F. Horne
John Atheal Howell 1958
J. M Howell 1955

Virginia Jones 1950

Marion Kingery Moody 1954
Betty Knowles - 1964
Billy Edward Knowles - 1964
Kay Knowles - 1963Earlene Lane - 1962
Edison Knowles - 1964

Karen Lane McCoy 1945
Betty Lawson
Edith Lavender Spivey - 1942 (Between Naomi Duncan and Emily Bruner - school in background)
Edwin Lord 1958
Guyton Lord 1959
Jimmy Lord  1955 (2008 Reunion)
Harley Lord, Jr. - 1964
Harry Lord
Marlene Lord Tompkins 1950 (2002 Reunion)
Philip Lord 1960
Sue Lord Green - 1963
Wayne (Shang) Lord (With wife Sue Spivey Lord)
Sue Lord Green (Left with schoolmates)
Henry Loyd 1956

Marie McNeal
Edna Mercer Jones 1951 (Third from left - class of 51' in Florida)
Frankie McKinney 1934
Anne Miller Colston
Charles Miller (With wife Joyce Thompson - 2008 Reunion)
Eric Miller - 1963
Jerry Miller 1951
Sue Miller 1951 (Second from left - Class of 51' in Florida)
Alan Mills
Frank Mills 1941
Jack Miller 1944
Allen Ray Montgomery
Jack Montgomery 1959
Lilly Montgomery 1955
Richard Montgomery  1953 (Front row, right - 51' basketball team)
Sadie Montgomery Crumbley 1960
Jean Myrick 1958
Sylvia Myrick

Elizabeth Nesbet Eubanks 1953
Reba Nesbit - 1953 (Far right - With classmates - 2008 Reunion)
Mary Nesmith 1934

Rava Pierce 1947

Janie Ramage Tompkins
Lance Rodgers 1955
Shirley Rogers 1958
Bobbie Rozar Orr 1950

Horace Sanders 1946
John Sanders (2008 Reunion)
Marion Sanders 1953 (Back row, Second from left - 51' basketball team)
Patsy Sellers Smith 1946
Judy Slay - 1962 (??)
C. W.  Smalley
Mr. Don Smith (Teacher) (With wife Doris - 2008 Reunion)
Doris Smith (With husband Don - 2008 Reunion)
Fearn Lord 1946
Rick  Spivey
Sue Spivey Lord 1962 
D. J. (Sonny) Spivey 1960 (Teenager)
Mary Stephens - 1941 (Second row, far left)
 

Bernice Tanner Sanford 1948
Sadie Tanner Montgomery  1950
Bobby Thomas - 1964
Joyce Thompson Miller 1951 (First left - Class of 51' in Florida)
Guy Thompson 1954
Carrie Thompson Clark 1935 (With husband Robert - 2000 in Richmond Hill, Ga.)
Claudia Thompson Smith 1933 (Her birth day party - 2000 in Richmond Hill, Ga.)
Griffin Thompson 1944
Sybil Thompson
Paul Thompson 1951 (2008 Reunion)
Bonnie Tompkins Wheeler
Thomas Tompkins
Patty Travis Evans 1951 (Florida - 1951 Class Trip)
Douglas Twiggs 1958

Ralph Ussery

Lucille Walden Couey 1958
Wallace Freeman 1956
Betty Walden Copley 1956
Bobby Walden
William (Bo) Weaver  1951
Gene Weaver  1953 (With sister Joann in 1951)
Joann Weaver Hartley 1962 (Toomsboro at O. C. Weaver house)
Darrel Womack - 1961
Larry Womack - 1964
ShirleyWomack 1957
Donna Kay Wood - 1961
Carolyn Wynn Smalley

Names Grouped by Class

1938

Sara Boone Baird

1941

              
Second Grade Photo -Names below Photo

Red Carr (With wife Geraldine - 2006 Reunion) (87)
Mary Barbara Cason
Frank Mills - (Front row, last on right)
Mary Stephens - (Second row, far left)

1942

             
First Grade Photo   Names and positions of students

 

Edith Lavender Spivey (First grade class - 3rd row from top, 10th from left)
Sara Boone Baird?
Evelyn Dean Scoggins First grade class, top row, seventh from left)

1943

1944

Doris Brown Poole - 83 (With husband Fred on Caribbean Cruise. I made the photo)
Rufus Davis
Dorothy Helton
Jack Miller
Claudia Thompson Smith - (Her birth day party - 2000 in Richmond Hill, Ga.)
Griffin Thompson

1945

Geraldine Brown Carr - (With her husband Red Carr) (83) x
Merlie Butler Bennett
 Gladys Dominy
Doyle Holliman
Hazel Horne
Frankie McKinney
Mary Nesmith
 Sybil Thompson

1946

Carrie Thompson Clark - (With husband Robert - 2000 in Richmond Hill, Ga.)

1947

Marion Holliman
Rava Pierce

1948

Sue Ellen Holliman

1949

Janet Brantley
Charlie Bloodworth
Louise Freeman
Gladys Montgomery
Francis Connell Moody
Bernice Tanner Sanford
Peggy Smith

1950


Some students from 1950 and 1951 classes
Thompson's Cove  Restaurant,  Toomsboro - About 2000.

Billy Boone
Mary Ivey Dominy Thompson - (In yellow at Thompson's Cove Restaurant)
C. B. Eubanks (Facing camera - 2006 Reunion)
Julian Helton
Virginia Jones
Marlene Lord Tompkins (2002 Reunion)
Bobbie Rozar Orr
Sadie Tanner Montgomery (With husband Richard - 2004 Reunion)
 

1951 - Started 1940

  
         #1                        #2                        #3

#1 - Boys - Class trip to Florida
#2 - Girls -  Same trip
#3 - Some class members - Thompson's Cove, Toomsboro,  about 2000

Harris Bowdon (Back row, third from left - 51' basketball team)
Algie Cannon (Second from left - Class of 51' in Florida)
Delores Crowe Anderson
Marie Day Hatchett (Left, with sister Shirley - 2002 Reunion)
Billy Dent (front row - second from left - 51' basketball team)
Gussie Dominy Eubanks (Fourth from  left - class  of 51' in Florida)
Dorothy Ann (Dot) Fordham (Reunion 2002)
Edna Mercer Jones (Third from left - class of 51' in Florida)
Jerry Miller
Sue Miller (Second from left - Class of 51' in Florida)
Joyce Thompson Miller (With husband Charles at 2008 Reunion)
Patty Travis - (Florida - 1951 Class Trip)
Paul Thompson (2008 Reunion)
William (Bo) Weaver

1952 - No Gradating Class at Toomsboro

1953

Abott Allen
Jonnie Bailey Stamps (Between Gene Weaver and Reba Nesbit - 2008 Reunion)
Kenneth Day (Center - Day Family Reunion Milledgeville, 2007)
Elizabeth Nesbit Eubanks
Richard Montgomery (With wife Sadie Tanner)
Reba Nesbit - (Far right - With classmates - 2008 Reunion)
Marion Sanders (Back row, Second from left - 51' basketball team)
Gene Weaver
 

1954 (Last Graduation Class at TTS)

Gail Boone Lee
Shirley Day (With sister Marie - 2002 Reunion)
Shirley Dent Snider
W. L. Helton
Marion Kingery Moody
Guy Thompson

1955

Larry Bloodworth
Evelyn Butler
Maggie Collins Loyd
Mary Alice Colson
Guyton Lord
Raynell Holland Butler
Elaine Holliman Hearn
J. M. Howell
Jimmy Lord (2008 Reunion)
Lilly Montgomery
Lance Rodgers

1956

Mary Bailey Budrys
Jean Hightower Butler
Wallace Freeman
Henry Loyd
Betty Walden Copley

1957

 Sharon Boone Hamner
Don Cannon
Harry Carnes
Mary Connell
Sybil Connell
Herbert (Hub) Dent
Molly Dolittle
Minnie Lee Ezell
Mary Alice Fordham
Wallace Freeman
Fred Green
Ruby Green
Karen Lane McCoy
Edna Allen Strickland
ShirleyWomack
 

1958

Earl Allen
Marie Bailey Massengale
Jimmy Boone
Charlie Day
Betty Rose Dominy Criswell
Joe Ben Fordham
John Atheal Howell
Edwin Lord
Fearn Lord
Guyton Lord - (High School Graduation)
Jean Myrick
Shirley Rogers
Horace Sanders
Patsy Sellers Smith
Douglas Twiggs
Lucille Walden Couey
 

1959

Totsey Ashley Moore
Martha Bloodworth
Charlie Davis
Joyce Helton
Jack Montgomery
Sara Davis Smith
Joyce Day Ramsey
Betty Rose Dominy Criswell
Guyton Lord

1960

Preston Bailey
Joe Anthony Butler
Clara Dell Dent
Harold Holliman
Morris Helton
Philip Lord
Sadie Montgomery Crumbley
D. J. (Sonny) Spivey

1961

Sara Allen
Marion Brown
Darrel Womack
Donna Kay Wood

1962

Rayford Carlton Bailey
Mary Durchhimer
Rosa Mae Freeman
Earlene Lane
Sue Spivey Lord
Judy Slay ??
 Joann Weaver Hartley (With brother Gene, 1951)

1963

Julian Allen
Edward Connell
Faye Day
Joan Day
Rufus Davis
Marie Dent
Bartley Freeman
Kay Knowles
Sue Lord Green
Eric Miller

1964

Lucian Bailey
Grady Butler
Betty Lou Davis
Lavern Dent
Betty Knowles
Billy Edward Knowles
Edison Knowles
Harley Lord, Jr.
Bobby Thomas
Larry Womack

Acknowledgements

I owe a note of thanks to the many people (see list below) who have helped me with their information and comments. But I especially thank Philip Lord who was most helpful with his timely responses - and who was as patient as I was, sometimes, impatient.

Marie Bailey Massengale
Mary Bailey Budrys
Sara Boone Baird
Sharon Boone Hamner
Doris Brown Poole
Algie Cannon
Maggie Collins Loyd
James Day
Red and Geraldine Brown Carr
Elaine Holliman Hearn
Jimmy Lord
Connie Day Overman
Evelyn Dean Scoggins
Edith Lavender Spivey
Philip Lord
Allen Ray Montgomery
Sadie Montgomery Crumbley
Bernice Tanner Sanford
Diane Thompson Dixon
Lucille Walden Couey

Go to Directory

The people listed below passed since our last reunion. If you know of others, please E-Mail me at Bobill

I didn't know Bunny Bailey, but folks  who did know her - remember a very nice, generous lady. Mary Brown was the youngest of the three daughters of Burt and Irma Jean Brown. I last saw Mary in Milledgeville in 2006, together with her daughter Bonnie and some of her first cousins.  I only vaguely remember Shirley Helton.    I remember Thomas Lee Ramage from  our school days at Toomsboro, and I remember he was a playful,  outgoing, fun-loving person. Carolyn (Sis) Petty introduced me and many others at The Toomsboro School to the world of biology. Miss Petty was short  of stature, but stood tall in her sense of duty to her teaching.  I remember Jack Thompson from his days at his service station and saw him a time or two at Thompson's Cove Restaurant in Toomsboro. I shared lunch with Jack at Mabob's restaurant in Irwinton a few years ago. Ray Tompkins was a regular at our school reunions, and  is  remembered by many as a minister of the gospel around middle and south Georgia.

Willie Olene (Bunny) Bailey
Mary Brown Harrison
Shirley Helton Brack 1953
Thomas Lee Ramage
Carolyn (Sis) Petty
Jack Thompson
Ray Tompkins