The following biographies of the teachers, school trustees, and community members found in the historical records of Falls Church District were researched and written by volunteers from District V, Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution.

Teachers

Mary Louise “Lou” Ashford

Mary Louise "Lou" Ashford was born on July 28, 1854, in Alexandria, Virginia, to Francis P.  and Paulina Jone Ashford. Lou, as she appears in FCPS records, taught in the Falls Church District from approximately 1881 to 1899. 

From 1886 to 1891, she taught at School Number 6,  also known as the Groveton School and the Seminary School. From 1897 to 1899, she taught at the Ravensworth School (School Number 7). After teaching in Fairfax County, Lou Ashford taught in Prince William County, Virginia, until her retirement in 1909. 

According to the 1921 Virginia Journal of Education, she received a pension of $40.00 quarterly. Lou Ashford died in June 1924, and was buried in Manassas, Virginia.

Charles S. Brooks

Charles S. Brooks was born in August 1875, in Alexandria, Virginia, to Reverend Lawson W. Brooks and his wife Martha A. "Mattie" Gaskins. Charles attended public school in Alexandria and graduated in 1910 from Howard University’s School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. 

Before becoming a physician, Charles Brooks worked as a teacher. He taught in the Falls Church District at School Number E (Bailey’s Crossroads) and School Number F from 1897 to 1900. 

In March 1902, he married Martha V. "Mattie" Denny in Falls Church, Virginia. After becoming a doctor, Charles practiced medicine in Frederick, Maryland, and then briefly in Altoona, Pennsylvania, before settling in Mount Union, Pennsylvania, in 1936. Dr. Brooks passed away in May 1952. A photograph of him can be seen in the book “J. C. Blair Memorial Hospital” by Nancy Swigart Shedd and Alberta Haught Goshorn.

Thornton W. Hyson

Thornton W. Hyson, or T. W. Hyson as he appears in most FCPS records, was born in 1862, in Alexandria, Virginia, to Thornton and Margaret Hyson. 

Thornton began his teaching career in Alexandria County (present-day Arlington County) around 1881 and came to Fairfax County Public Schools by 1886. He taught in the Dranesville District at the Frying Pan “Colored” School (Number A) until about 1892. In 1886, when he was given his teacher’s examination by Superintendent Milton D. Hall, Thornton Hyson had a first grade certification and was living in Herndon. 

By 1896, Mr. Hyson had begun teaching in Fairfax County’s Falls Church District at the Falls Church “Colored” School. In February 1897, the Evening Star reported that Mr. Hyson had an enrollment of 101 pupils in his school. To date, no evidence has been found in records to indicate that another teacher had been assigned to assist Mr. Hyson at that time. Conversely, the Falls Church School for white children, known as the Jefferson Institute, had at this same time an enrollment of 131 students with three teachers. 

In March 1897, Thornton presided over a meeting of the Colored Teachers Association in Falls Church where the educators discussed topics such as school discipline, chart exercises, and methods of teaching spelling. In the fall of 1897, Mr. Hyson became the first teacher at the new Merrifield “Colored” School, pictured below. By 1900, Thornton Hyson had returned to the Falls Church School. He was joined by an assistant teacher, Bessie L. Riddick, around 1903. Records indicate that Thornton remained at Falls Church through at least 1908. 

In the mid-1920s, Thornton Hyson was listed in FCPS records as the teacher of the Chesterbrook “Colored” School in Fairfax County’s Providence District. Except for the period in life when he taught at the Frying Pan School, Thornton Hyson lived in Alexandria/Arlington County. He passed away on April 6, 1933, at Freedmen’s Hospital, and was buried in Calloway Cemetery in Arlington.

Bessie L. Riddick

Bessie L. Riddick was born in March 1876, to Paul Riddick and Eliza Alexander. She lived in Alexandria, Virginia, and also taught many years in that city. In the records of the school trustees of Falls Church District, Bessie taught at School Number D in 1900-01, 1904-05, and 1905-06. 

Articles in the Evening Star indicate that from 1903 to 1908, Bessie was the assistant teacher at the Falls Church “Colored” School under Principal Thornton W. Hyson. This suggests “School Number D” specifically applied to the Falls Church School, but that can’t be verified before 1903, because the school trustees of Falls Church District are believed to have been inconsistent with their use of the alphanumeric system. FCPS financial records indicate that Bessie also taught in the Mount Vernon District in 1916-17 (school unknown). 

She passed away in September 1919, at age 41, and was buried in Bethel Cemetery in Alexandria.

Richard S. Shreve, Jr.

Richard Southern Shreve, Jr., or R. S. Shreve as he frequently appears in FCPS records, was born in May 1873, in Botetourt County, Virginia. His parents, Richard S. Shreve, Sr., a Methodist minister, and Frances Eppes, were killed by lightning in their home in June 1874, while standing near a window as they conducted a prayer service. An infant at the time of the incident, R.S. was sent to live with his paternal grandparents, William Henry Shreve and Mary Southern Shreve, in Fairfax County. 

In December 1896, R.S. married Mary R. Porter in Merrifield. According to his obituary, he began his teaching career when he was 21 years old. He served as the principal of the Baileys Crossroads School (Falls Church District), Lewinsville and Merrifield (white) schools (Providence District), and the Vienna School (Providence/Vienna District). However, much of this cannot be verified because so few trustee records of these schools survived. 

In the records of Falls Church District, R.S. was the principal of School Number 1 (West End) during the 1900-01 school year. A Providence District financial ledger shows that R.S. was paid for making repairs to the Lewinsville School in 1896, and the Merrifield School (white) in 1897, but he was not shown as a salaried teacher at that time in Providence District. By 1913, R.S. had begun teaching in Washington, D.C, where he remained until his retirement in 1943. R.S. passed away in 1953, and was buried in National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia.

School Trustees

Robert W. Birch

Robert Wilber Birch was born in January 1856, in Virginia, to Joseph Edward Birch and Mary Elizabeth Speer. He married Agnes Maude (nee Birch) in February 1885 in Falls Church. Robert and Agnes had two children, Guy and Mildred, both of whom died very young. 

Robert was a farmer. He served on the Falls Church District School Board from approximately 1895 to 1919. Robert died on March 12, 1924, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Falls Church.

Charles B. Cockrell

Charles Brawner Cockrell was born in Prince William County, Virginia, in November 1852, to Benjamin Cockrell and his wife Anna Maria Brawner. Charles married Margaret L. Stonnell in Fairfax, on December 17, 1878. Census records from 1910 to 1940 state that Charles and Margaret lived along Little River Turnpike in the Falls Church District of Fairfax County. Charles was a farmer, feed store operator, and served as a trustee on the Falls Church District School Board from 1900 to 1910. He died in October 1937, and was buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria.

William J. Malone

William James Malone was born on September 14, 1858, in Alexandria, Virginia, to John Malone of Ireland, and his wife Rebecca Gooding of Virginia. He married Alice Brooke in February 1881, in Washington, D.C. William Malone worked as a grocer in Falls Church and served as a trustee on the Falls Church District School Board from 1900 to 1901. He died in 1915 in Leesburg, Virginia, and was buried in Saint James Cemetery in Falls Church.

Community Members

Oliver B. Campbell

Oliver Bishop Campbell was born in December 1870, in Virginia, to John W. and Henrietta Bishop Campbell. He lived in Fairfax County’s Providence District, and in later years in the town of Fairfax. 

Census records indicate that at various times Oliver worked as a hardware merchant, a dealer in general merchandise, and as a plumber. The Falls Church District School Board consulted with Oliver during the construction of an addition to the Lincolnia Schoolhouse in 1911. In 1925, Oliver was hired by the Fairfax County School Board to install the water and sewage system in the new Fairfax Elementary School. Oliver married twice; to Annie Powell in 1898, and to Mary E. McCarty in 1937. He had no children. Oliver died in August 1953 and was buried in Fairfax City Cemetery.

John R. Zimmerman

John Robert Zimmerman wasborn on December 18, 1838, in Alexandria, he was a son of John H. Zimmerman of Fairfax, and Arina Elizabeth Windsor of Alexandria. He was a private with the Alexandria Riflemen of the Virginia Militia in 1859. The company was redesignated as Company A, 17th Virginia Infantry as part of the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War, and John was present at the surrender at Appomattox. 

After the war, an economic resurgence took place in Alexandria as the Alexandria Canal re-opened and record amounts of coal from mines in Cumberland, Maryland, arrived at the Port of Alexandria. At this time, the Zimmerman family was living on South Saint Asaph Street in Alexandria, and John was identified in the 1880 census as a coal merchant. 

Records from the Lee and Falls Church school district minute books capture activity between John and the school boards in providing coal to local schools before the turn of the century. John continued to work in the coal industry until 1920, when he became an agent for the Salt Company. John died in February 1926 and is buried at St. Paul's Cemetery in Alexandria.