DRY FORK SCHOOL

COMMON SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER SEVEN

Dry Fork School was first called King's Chapel School.

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Dry Fork was one of the earliest schools in Hamilton County being organized in 1880 by the people of the community who built a log building to house the school and donated money to employ a teacher. Rosa Ann Gallagher Gordon (Mrs. Robert Erwin Gordon, Sr.) was the employed as the first teacher. On 12 March, 1880, Mrs. Gordon was issued a contract to teach a public free school by W. G. Daniel and R. A. Cook trustees of Dry Fork School, No. 7 for three months. With a second grade certificate, Mrs. Gordon earned $20 per month, provided that at least fifteen percent of the enrollment was in attendance each day. For students who were under or over the scholastic age, Mrs. Gordon was paid $1 per month. (See copy of Mrs. Gordon’s contract furnished by her great-grandson, Fred D. Gordon.) Family tradition reveals that Rosa Gordon took her babies to school with her placing them in a cradle next to her desk. Fred Gordon is sure that one of the babies Rosa took to school was his grandfather, James Emmet Gordon, who was born 20 April, 1881, in Hamilton County. Mrs. Gordon had followed this same procedure when Louis Denard Gordon was born 10 October, 1878, in Brown County, TX.

Mrs. E. E. Gardner was the next teacher. She was succeeded by Erastus Kimber Ridenhower. The log school building was replaced in 1905 with a one-room frame building. 

Seven grades were taught in Dry Fork School in 1911.  R. T. Wilkerson  was the teacher in 1915-1916.  In 1924-25 Miss Iria Lackey was the teacher at Dry Fork. In 1926 the school was moved to a new location on land given by T. R. Thomas where the two room school was built by Giles C. Driver. Randall Simpson was the teacher in 1935. Dry Fork School consolidated with the Fairy School in 1936. Roy Davis drove the school bus from Dry Fork to Fairy in 1936.

Teacher Randall Simpson boarded with Murrell and Daphna Ables while he taught school at Dry Fork. Students in the 7-grade Dry Fork School in 1935 included

Seventh Grade: Mattie Greer and Mildred Sanders

Sixth Grade: Ewell Sanders

Fifth Grade: Albert Bullard, Steve Bullard, and Cecil Loyd

Fourth Grade: Andrew Loyd, Hazel Higginbotham, Ora Bullard

Third Grade: Harold Dean Walker, Winnie Mae "Shirley" Greer

First Grade: Raymond Loyd, Drusilla Bullard, Truman Bullard, Calvin B. Greer, and Erman Owen.

 DRY FORK TEACHERS*

*Please send additions and corrections of the list of Dry Fork Teachers to Roy Ables.

Dry Fork School