Finding aid to the Virginia Public School Register and Scrapbook

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VA 24501
(434) 846–0501
VIRGINIA PUBLIC SCHOOL REGISTER, & SCRAPBOOK
The register contains attendance records for Eliza Robertson's class at Biggers Primary
School for the year 1889-90. In addition to the lists of students and attendance report, the
age of each student is listed as well. Many pages are covered by scrapbook material,
such as articles and pictures from newspapers and magazines, apparently kept by Emma
Thornhill, whose name appears on the cover.
ELIZA ANN ROBERTSON MC CLANAHAN
Eliza Ann Robertson was born in Lynchburg, VA, on 4 October 1860, the daughter of
William F. and Caroline Sumpter Robertson. Her father was a local tobacco
manufacturer. She taught in the Biggers Primary School on Fifth Street, Lynchburg,
prior to her marriage to the Rev. George W. McClanahan, of Philadelphia. They were
married in Lynchburg on 21 June 1893.
An orphan, George Walker McClanahan was raised by his uncle, William S.
McClanahan of Salem, VA, who was a Lutheran pastor and the founder of the Lutheran
Synod of Southwestern Virginia's South View Orphan Home in Roanoke County.
George graduated from Roanoke College in 1889, and went on to become
a Lutheran pastor.
After their marriage, the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. McClanahan lived in Pennsylvania. At the
time of her death on 31 October 1908, they were living in Strasburg, PA. She was buried
in Spring Hill Cemetery on 3 November 1908.
[Eisenberg, William E., The Lutheran Church in Virginia, 1717–1962 (Roanoke: Virginia Synod of the
Lutheran Church in America, 1967; Marriage Register, Lynchburg, Va., Book 3, Microfilmed record, Jones
Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.; Lynchburg News, 3 November 1908, p. 6 c. 7.]

EMMA STAIGE THORNHILL
Emma Staige Thornhill was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on 18 February of 1857,
the daughter of Dr. George W. and Cornelia Bibb Thornhill. She taught elementary
school in Lynchburg and for many years was a resident of Cabell Street.
Miss Thornhill died on 13 December 1927, in Lynchburg, and was buried in Spring
Hill Cemetery.
["Burial Record for Emma S. Thornhill," Burial Book #21, p. 110, Diuguid Funeral Home, Lynchburg, VA,
microfilmed record, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA; Shole's Directory of the City of Lynchburg
1892–93 (Charleston, SC: Sholes Publishing Co., 1893).

MS1177