Prof. Thomas H. McAfee, Salvisa, KY., then Washington Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller



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Prof. Thomas McAfee. The beautifully located little City of Franklinton,
Louisiana, has much to recommend it as a place of residence, and not the
least to its advantages is the maintenance here of a high school that in
organized efficiency and preservation of high educational standards
compares favorably with any in the state. It is fortunate in having at its
head Prof. Thomas H. McAfee, a capable man of culture and judgment, of
travel and experience, college bred but of widened vision, under whose
administration this institution has become a strong factor in the
educational and cultural life of the community.

Professor McAfee was born near Salvisa, Kentucky, January 9, 1884, and is a
son of William T. and Sadie (Armstrong) McAfee, and a grandson of Samuel
and Rachel (Whitenack) McAfee. The grandfather, a lifelong resident of
Kentucky, was an extensive farmer near Salvisa and a man of standing in
Mercer County. William T. McAfee was born on his father's farm near
Salvisa, October 5, 1848. He followed farming there until 19Z2, when he
moved to Pineora, Georgia, where he is still interested in farm pursuits.
In political opinion he has always been a democrat, and from his youth has
been a member of the Presbyterian Church. To his marriage with Sadie
Armstrong, who was born at Pleasant Hill, Missouri, January 7, 1847, the
following children were born: Elizabeth D., the wife of Rev. Thomas W.
Mitchell, who has been a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in China for
the past twenty-one years; Nellie Bruce, who is the wife of Dr. Silas
Evans, president of Ripon College, Wisconsin; James Horace, who is
secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Birmingham, Alabama;
Thomas H.; and Gilbert A., who resides with his parents.

Thomas H. McAfee received early instruction in the public schools of Mercer
County, Kentucky, then became a student in the academy at Harrodsburg, from
which he was graduated its the class of 1901. A year of travel in
California followed, and when he left the Pacific Coast it was to enter
Park College, at Parkville, Missouri, where he continued four years and was
graduated in the class of 1906, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. It was
not until some years that he turned his attention definitely to the field
of work for which he is so well fitted. In the meanwhile he spent one year
in the mercantile business at Kansas City, Missouri, served one year as
secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Leesburg, Virginia,
and one year as secretary of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Young Men's
Christian Association at Philadelphia, and then returned to assist his
father on the old home farm. He remained there for six years and then
accepted the position of assistant principal of the high school at Rayne,
Louisiana, and two years later, in 1918, went to Slidell as principal of
the Slidell High School, with supervision over eighteen teachers and 560
pupils. In 1924 he went to Franklinton as principal of the high school.

At Breckenridge, Missouri, August 25, 1915, Mr. McAfee married Miss Abrah
Cary, daughter of David and Mary Ella (Reed) Cary, the latter of whom still
resides at Breckenridge. Mr. Cary, formerly a farmer and stockraiser, was
accidentally killed in a railroad accident. Mrs. McAfee, a graduate of Park
College in the class of 1908, for eight years was a successful teacher its
the public schools of three states, at Oregon, Missouri; Weleetka,
Oklahoma: and at Crockett, Texas. Professor and Mrs. McFee have three sons:
Thomas David, born June 10, l916; Howard Cary, born January 8, 1922 and
Robert William, born June 10, 1923. Professor McAfee is a member of
Rathbone Lodge No. 104, Knights of Pythias, and of the Louisiana State
Teachers Association. He is a democrat in political preference, and a
member of the Presbyterian Church.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 384-385, by Henry E. Chambers.
Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York,
1925.