DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. Now, every town worth its salt has a founding story, and Giddings, Texas has a good one. Not about land or cattle or a railroad spike.
About two people who showed up with a chalkboard and a plan. Their names were Robert Devlin McClellan and Sarah Lewis Rainey McClellan. Robert was born on January 19, 1837.
Sarah's birth year the marker doesn't say, but we know when she left us: February 2, 1914. Together, they are remembered as the first professional educators in Giddings. It started in 1874.
No public school yet, no tax rolls funding a classroom. Just the McClellans, opening a private school on their own terms. You want to picture what that took, go ahead.
The marker doesn't spell it out, and I won't pretend I know the particulars. What I know is they did it. Then came 1883.
That was the year Giddings public free schools got their start, and when the town needed someone to head the first faculty, well, they knew exactly who to call. The McClellans stepped right into those positions. Robert, described as a noted mathematician, stood at the front of that classroom and taught.
He kept teaching, and he kept teaching, right up until his death on December 30, 1888. Sarah didn't miss a beat. She stayed at her post.
She was there for her students through the years that followed, and she remained until 1895. Think on that. One of them gone, and she kept the work going.
The marker closes with a line that doesn't reach for poetry but doesn't need to. The pattern they set still shapes schools. Two educators.
A private school in 1874. A public school in 1883. And a standard set in Giddings that outlasted them both.
What the marker says
Robert Devlin McClellan (January 19, 1837 - December 30, 1888) Sarah Lewis Rainey McClellan (deceased February 2, 1914) First professional educators in Giddings, opening a private school in 1874. In 1883, start of Giddings public free schools saw the McClellans heading the first faculty. McClellan, a noted mathematician, taught until his death; Mrs. McClellan remained at her post until 1895. Pattern they set still shapes schools. Recorded - 1970