Bio: Capt. George E. Thatcher, Caddo Parish La Source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana The Southern Publishing Company, Chicago & Nashville, 1890 Submitted by: Suzanne Shoemaker ************************************************** ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** ******** CAPT. GEORGE E. THATCHER, president of Thatcher Institute, Shreveport, La. It has been truly said, that "a good education is the best inheritance that parents can leave to their children." Riches may take to themselves wings and fly away, but a good education will last through life. Thatcher Institute, a school for boys and young men, was originally founded at Shreveport, La., in 1880, by Capt. George E. Thatcher and Col. George D. Alexander, under the name of "Thatcher & Alexander's Classical and Mathematical Institute." The founders were widely and favorably known throughout this section as successful teachers of great experience, and the school, from its inception, enjoyed the patronage and support of many of the best citizens of Shreveport and neighboring parishes. Its prestige has steadily progressed and still continues, the institution having earned a widespread reputation for efficiency. In 1872 Col. Alexander withdrew, and after that date the school was conducted by its present principal as a select private school. As such it enjoyed the greatest prosperity, but as the number of students was strictly limited, many who applied for admission were necessarily refused. In recognition of the demand for an institution of high grade and extended curriculum, the school was incorporated under the laws of Louisiana, and is now a regularly chartered institution under the name of "Thatcher Institute." Its board of directors is composed of many of the most prominent citizens of Shreveport and Northern Louisiana. The design of the institute is to give a thorough and complete education. Recognizing the fact that many young men, who are denied the advantage of a full collegiate course, desire, nevertheless a thorough training in some branches, the faculty have striven to meet this demand by making the course elective. The number of students will no longer be limited. Capt. George E. Thatcher, principal of the institute and a gentleman of great efudition, was born in Bennington County, Vt., February 3, 1830 and was a son of George and Sophronia (Hurd) Thatcher, natives also of the Green Mountain State. The father was an architect, and his death occurred when the Captain was about six months old. The latter remained with his mother until twenty-one years of age, attending the common schools, and then finished his education at Leland Institution at Townsend, Vt., in 1850 at the age of twenty years. He then began teaching school, and went to Massachusetts, where he took charge of an academy at Marion, remaining there about five years. He was next appointed principal of Fair Haven High School at New Bedford, and there remained for about two years. He was next elected professor of mathematics at Mansfield (La.) Female College in 1857, and occupied that position until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in Pelican Rifles of DeSoto Parish. He entered the ranks as a private and was promoted to bureau chemist of the Nitre and Mining Bureau of the Confederate Sates, serving in that capacity at Lynchburg and at the copper mines of Southwest Virginia, and at the iron mines of Eastern Tennessee. After the fall of Vicksburg he was ordered to report to Gen. E. Kirby Smith, at Shreveport, and was placed in charge of the powder works at Marshall, Tex. After about three months of service here he was appointed captain of artillery on ordnance, and served at Marshall in charge of the powder works at that place until the close of the war. After the surrender, or in 1870, he founded this school at Shreveport, and has resided here ever since. It is no question that Capt. Thatcher is one of Northern Louisiana's finest educators. He has built up a fine school, has erected good buildings, and his annual attendance is about 150. He has erected a neat and tasty residence on the same grounds with this school buildings. Capt. Thatcher was married in 1851 to Miss Aurilla S. Gray, by whom he had three sons, viz: George O. (professor of mathematics), Fred G. (an attorney), and Herbert W. (a merchant). The Captain's second marriage occurred in 1866 to Mrs. Mary A. Lane (nee Hunter), who bore him one son, J. Hunter.