Albion Academy

Alonzo R. Phillips marries in Connecticut.

The Newtown (Conn.) Bee, 12 June 1903.

The Newtown (Conn.) Bee, 8 January 1904.

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In the 1880 census of Tarboro, Edgecombe County, N.C.: minister H.C. Philips, 37, wife Emma, 34, and children Louisa, 12, Hood, 9, Walton, 6, and Cornelius, 3.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Emma Phillips, 53, and sons Alonzo, 17, and William, 16.

Alonzo R. Phillips and James H. Bynum were freshmen classmates at Lincoln University. Bynum graduated in 1906; Phillips dropped out before their junior year. Catalogue of Lincoln University, Academical Year 1902-1903 (Philadelphia: 1903.)

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Phillips Alonzo (c) painter h608 E Green

In 1918, Alonzo Robert Phillips registered for the World War I draft in Franklin County, N.C. Per his registration card, he was born 1 July 1882; lived in Franklinton, Franklin County; worked as a farmer and teacher for Freedman’s Board [Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen], Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and his nearest relative was Mrs. Alonzo R. Phillips.

In the 1920 census of Franklinton, Franklin County, N.C.: A.R. Phillips, 37, teacher at Albion Academy; wife Sallie, 37; and children Kenneth, 15, janitor at Albion Academy, Robt., 14, Ethel, 12, Sarah, 9, Julia, 8, Henry C., 5, Ruth, 2, and Oliver Q., 3 months.

Alonzo R. Phillips died 26 July 1924 in Franklinton, Franklin County. Per his death certificate, he was 42 years old; was married; was born in New Bern, N.C., to Henry C. Phillips and Elizabeth Phillips; and was a schoolteacher. He was buried in “Fr.Col.Cem.”

Vick and Melton, Albion Academy trustees.

“The Albion Academy was designed to prepare young men and women to be teachers in schools intended for the instruction of colored people in the Southern States.

“It was organized by the late Rev. Moses A. Hopkins, its first principal, and aided by his Presbyterian friends North and South.

“Like all schools, at its commencement, it had many obstacles to fight. But by prayer, and the indefatigable energy and push of its founder, it grew gradually until it attracted the public in such a way, that the State of North Carolina, feeling the need of having intelligent, warmhearted citizens who will exercise their right of suffrage intelligently, and for the good of their country, the elevation of the race, and the glory of God, established six Normals, and located one at Franklinton, in connection with the Albion Academy.”

Albion Academy’s 1892-93 catalog listed 58 students by name in the Academic program and claimed another 189 in the preparatory and primary programs. Though Samuel H. Vick and Rev. Leavy J. Melton (and Clarence Dillard) served on the school’s board of trustees, no children from Wilson matriculated at Albion that year.

Excerpts from catalog found at http://www.ancestraltrackers.net/nc/franklin/catalogue-albion-academy-1892.pdf