School Days: Armuchee Valley School, Class of 1991
Today’s entry in the School Days series is quite different. Whereas the previous school photos were taken in the 1930s, today’s school photo was taken in 1990. It is, in fact, my 5th grade class from Armuchee Valley School. I love how this photo is labeled with all the names–making any detective work much easier!
The names in the photo are as follows:
- 3rd Row
- Mr. Ron Peck (principal)
- Jordan Scoggins
- Amy Gray
- La Tasha Madden
- Peggy Bedwell
- Richard Austin
- Mrs. Keith (5th grade teacher)
- 2nd Row
- Christy Gray
- Crystal Barnes
- Pamela Terry
- Freda Cargal
- Evan Bailey
- James Grady
- 1st Row
- Scottie Tate
- Monroe Willix
- Jacob Jarvis
- Danielle Willingham
- Christina Martin
- Harley Gordon
- Anthony Gray (not pictured)
I recently discovered that one of my classmates here is actually a cousin. Freda Cargle and I both descend from Madison Green Clement (1823-1901) and are 4th cousins once removed! I suspect I am related to more of the students here, but I just haven’t tracked down those connections yet. I do note three Grays in the bunch. I recently visited the Anderson/Gray cemetery in Subligna–a cemetery tucked away in the woods that had never even been inventoried on Find A Grave until I added it–and learned how the Gray family (distantly) fits into my tree. Knowing the patterns of Armuchee Valley families (and how I’m discovering more and more I’m related to almost everybody in the area in one way or another), I suspect the Grays here in the photo from 1990 are descendants of the family in Anderson/Gray cemetery. If any of you know more about this, let me know.
It’s also worth noting that this class was the last to graduate from Armuchee Valley School. The school burned in 1992, forcing all students to finish out the year at Naomi. Armuchee Valley was never reopened.
Let me know if anyone out there has class photos like this (or even more casual shots from school days) from Armuchee Valley or anywhere else in the area. I’d love to feature your photo here on the Jordan’s Journey blog.
A note of thanks goes to Nelda Scoggin Reynolds for her help in making the connections between all the graves from the Anderson/Gray cemetery. I couldn’t have done it without you, Nelda!
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There are several class photos from AVS in the mid fifties and early sixties from my collection. We are able to name most of them. Perhaps other people might have others.
Yes! I will feature those class photos here at some point for sure.
Is the Anderson/Gray cemetary one of the ones I visited with you? I can’t remember.
Yep, that’s the one! Check out the inventory I added at Find A Grave (including all the photos).
Hey Jordan !!! I do have all of My class photos from Armuchee Valley. May be able to get Samantha’s class photos too not sure if mom or her have those tho.
Hi cousin Freda! Great to hear from you. Yes, I would love to get copies of any class photos you and Samantha have. I’ll email you about it. I only went to Armuchee Valley for kindergarten and 5th grade–and I don’t think I have one of our kindergarten class.
I stumbled upon your website and have had fun reading it. I have family all over West Armuchee. My cousin graduated from AVS about 10 years before you. And I drive past the ruins (seemed to be an auto shop for several years) when I visit my folks. I’m from Atlanta, but my mother grew up in West Armuchee (she went to Subligna school), and she and my dad moved back to the valley when they retired. She’s the ninth of Cecil Huggins’s ten children. Like your family, the Hugginses and their kin have lived in the valley for generations.
My grandmother Mary Ella Hamilton was born in Subligna GA. Her Hamilton ancestry goes back to and her heritage includes Samuel J. Hamilton and Jenny Pruyear who were married Aug 15, 1867, Samuel died 3-20-1929, Jenny dies 4-11-1936 and both are buried in Subligna. Their children were Clarence, Charlie P., Clyde, Felton, Mary Lou, and Esther Troupe -Mary Lou and Ester were twins. Some of them are buried in Subligna as are the third generation that was born in 1900 – 1907 and subsequent generations continue in Chattooga County GA into the 1930’s. What cemeteries are in the area of Subligna that go back to the early 1890’s? My grandmother was a school teacher at the Normal School (now called Teachers’ College). Where would that school have been located and are there records of the teachers that taught at the school? Was there a school board at the time, would the records be with the state or the county? When her parents left Chattooga County, GA. to move to Texas she had to stay behind until the school term was over. She came by covered wagon, they came by train. They settled in Central Texas and my grandmother taught school in a rural area close to Killeen TX, and the family later moved to the Texas panhandle. My grandmother was one of eleven children – 9 girls and 2 boys. Any and all ideas of how and where to search to trace my family history in this part of Georgia would be appreciated. I probably have distant relatives still in the area. This has been an interesting journey tracing family history. My grandmother and grandfather married in 1906. My grandfather was what is now called a Pharmacist. He and my grandmother moved to Motley County Texas where they lived and owned a successful drug store. Two of Mama’s brothers also moved to Motley County, one was an attorney (Edgar) for a couple of the historic ranches, the other brother (Thomas) was a accountant and his clients were the business people as well as the ranchers.
Interesting coming across an article about a school in an area where my Grandmother taught school. Small World.
Hi Tonie. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the Normal School before. As for Subligna cemeteries, there are many cemeteries in the area and most of them probably contain graves from the 1890’s. Most of the area cemeteries are relatively well cataloged at Find A Grave. Have you searched there for the people you are looking for? The Texas connection is definitely interesting. Many families from the area migrated to Texas. I have seen numerous examples of this in the branches of my own tree. It’s very interesting how the families split, some lines going out west and others staying put.