January 2012 – theotheralexandria

Principal Henry T. White’s 1920 Parker-Gray Class

: 1920 Principal Henry T. White and First Faculty

Prior to 1920, the colored boys and girls of Alexandria were taught separately in two buildings. The boys were in Snowden School, on the west side of South Pitt Street near Gibbon Street. Mr. John F. Parker was principal of Snowden School. The girls were in Hallowell School on, the east side of North Alfred Street between Princess and Oronoco Streets. Mr. Henry T. White was their principal.

Mr. Henry T. White was selected to be the first principal of the combined schools of Snowden and Hallowell for black boys and black girls. The school was named Parker-Gray School after Mr. John F. Parker and Miss Sarah A. Gray. Ironically, Mr. John F. Parker’s declining health might have prevented the School Board for selecting him as the principal of the school that was named after him.

Mr. Henry T. White was born in 1862 in Pittsylvania, Virginia. He was married to Marcella Mayhew. He and his wife migrated to Alexandria in the late 1880s. Though he was principal at Parker-Gray, he taught classes. He taught 7^th and 8^th grades in 1920 – 1921 school year. The students were:

Margaret Bell, age 15, grade 8^th

Thomas Bell, age 13, grade 7^th

Llewellyn Butler, age 14, grade 7^th

Corinne Byrd, age 13, grade 8^th

Ellen Carter, age 12, grade 7^th

Ida Colbert, age 15, grade 7^th

Elizabeth Contee, age 12, grade 7^th

Rosena Dixon, age 13, grade 7^th

William Ellis, age 13, grade 7^th

Rosier Gaddis, age 13, grade 7^th

Anna Gaines, age 15, grade 7^th

Ruth Gilliam, age 12, grade 7^th

Eva Hill, age 15, grade 7^th

Norris Hopkins, age 12, grade 7^th

Gladys Lewis, age 15, grade 8^th

Charles Lucas, age 12, grade 7^th

Patrick H. Lumpkins Jr., age 13, grade 8^th

Lucille Majors, age 15, grade 7^th

Wibrow Martin, age 15, grade 8^th

Edgar McGee, age 12, grade 7th

Elbert Norton, age 15, grade 8^th

Nannie Parker, age 14, grade 7^th

James Redd, age 13, grade 7^th

Mildred Russell, age 14, grade 7^th

Samuel Shanklin, age 15, grade 7^th

Esther Speaks, age 12, grade 7^th

Florence Stewart, age 15, grade 8^th

Richard Strange, age 15, grade 7^th

Wallace Strange, age 12, grade 7^th

Ernest Turner, age 15, grade 7^th

Edmonia Washington, age 15, grade 7^th

Kathleen V. White, age 13, grade 7^th

Eliza Whitmore, age 15, grade 7^th

Marie Jones, age 14, grade 7^th

Dr. William H. Madella (Snowden School Teacher)

Dr. William H. Madella was one of the first teachers at Snowden Public School for black boys founded in 1870.

Dr. Madella was born in 1855. He married Ms. Senia M. Walker. He taught 4^th and 5^th grades at Snowden School for the school year of 1896 – 1897, and he had 47 students in class. The students were:

Raymond Murray – age 11, grade 5^th

Alfred Williams – age 13, grade 5^th

Marshall Raines – age 14, grade 5^th

Alfred Hamilton – age 10, grade 5^th

Harry Anderson – age 11, grade 5^th

Horace Hill – age 12, grade 5^th

Raymond Bentley – age 13, grade 5^th

Frank Chinn – age 12, grade 5^th

Ralph Jackson – age 11, grade 5^th

Basil Bush – age 14, grade 5^th

Morris Murray – age 10, grade 4^th

Edgar Johnson – age 12, grade 4^th

Alfred Johnson – age 11, grade 4^th

William Lomax – age 13, grade 4^th

Isaac Thornton, age 11, grade 4^th

Lawrence Arnold, age 11, grade 5^th

Eppa Murray, age 14, grade 5^th

Douglass Richardson, age 12, grade 5^th

Lemont Haney, age 15, grade 5^th

Temple Carter, age 13, grade 5^th

Grafton Cupid, age 13, grade 5^th

Daniel Griffin, age 16, grade 5^th

Philip Webb, age 13, grade 5^th

Charles Smith, age 14, grade 5^th

John Williams, age 16, grade 5^th

Arthur Acey, age 13, grade 4^th

Robert Bush, age 13, grade 4^th

Boyd W. Burke, age 13, grade 4^th

Robert Cole, age 13, grade 4^th

William Jackson, age 16, grade 4^th

Wesley Lucas, age 15, grade 4^th

Joseph Lucas, age 13, grade 4^th

Herbert Murray, age 10, grade 4^th

Frank Rose, age 15, grade 4^th

Louis Raines, age 13, grade 4th

Ellis West, age 13, grade 4^th

David White, age 15, grade 4^th

Alfred White, age 13, grade 4^th

Edward Brown, age 12, grade 4^th

Ernest Adkins, age 14, grade 5^th

Frank Jackson, age 14, grade 5^th

John Peters, age 15, grade 4^th

Julian Earley, age 11, grade 4^th

Edgar Lewis, age 14, grade 5^th

Angus Lewis, age 15, grade 5^th

Howard Barret, age 14, grade 4^th

Harry Carter, age 16, grade 4^th

Colonel John McKee

Article — Partial listing - Baltimore Afro-American - April 12, 1902

John Mckee was one of Alexandria, Virginia most successful African Americans. At the time of his death, he was known as the wealthiest African American in the country.

He was born in Alexandria, Virginia around 1819. In 1838, he registered as a freed person of color in Alexandria. The registration stated, “John McKee is a bright mulatto boy, about 19 years old, 5 feet 4½ inches tall, who is straight built with light colored eyes. He was born free, as appears by oaths of Betsey Beckley and Fanny Beckley.”

When he was in his teens, Mr. McKee was indentured as a brick maker. He later ran away to Baltimore, Maryland; but was brought back to Alexandria by his Uncle to finish his time of indenture.

John was 21-years old when he migrated to Philadelphia and worked in the livery stable. Later he started working for James Prosser, a well- known restaurant owner on Market Street in Philadelphia. He married his employer’s daughter.

When the civil war started, John organized and became the Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania (N.G.P.) in the Fifth Brigade under General Louis Wagner. Later, John became the Colonel of the Eighth New Jersey colored regiment.

From that time on, John was known as Colonel John Mckee. He became wealthy in real estate. At the time of his death, he owned 300 to 400 houses. He was the founder and owner of McKee City on the West Jersey Railroad in New Jersey a tract of 4,000 acres divided into twenty-one farms. He also owned about 300,000 acres of coal and oil land in Kentucky and Logan County, West Virginia, and a tract of twenty-one acres at Fifty Street and Oregon Avenue in Philadelphia. He owned over 23,000 acres of land in two-counties in New York, and sixty acres of land on the Delaware River as well as many other properties in other States.

Colonel John McKee died April 6, 1902 at his home at 1030 Lombard Street in Philadelphia. His funeral was at Central Presbyterian Church and his internment was at Olivet Cemetery. John had one living daughter at the time of his death, Mrs. A.P. Syphax. He also had six grandsons and two of his grandsons lived in Washington, DC.

John’s accomplishments were outstanding for a black man that was born in the early 1800s. His total asset at the end of his life was between $1.5 million to $2 million. Others at the time of his death said it was $4 million. John left a quarter of a million dollars to family members and friends. The bulk of his money and property went to the Catholic Church to establish a school for fatherless children of both races. Even today, there are scholarships for fatherless children in his name.

John will be remembered as one of Alexandria most successful African Americans.

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