William Henry Burnett

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every good story starts somewhere unexpected, and this one starts in a rural stretch of Ellis County called South Prong, back in the 1880s. A Presbyterian missionary by the name of Alexander R.

Wilson had taken it upon himself to conduct school out there. Modest beginnings, by any measure. But Wilson had an eye for promise, and among his pupils was a young black farm boy named William Henry Burnett.

Wilson didn't just teach the boy; he guided him personally. And that guidance led somewhere remarkable: Burnett was awarded a scholarship to Lincoln University, all the way up in Pennsylvania. A farm boy from South Prong.

Think on that for a moment. He went, he trained as a teacher, and then (and this is the part that matters) he came back. Back to Texas, back to the children who needed what he now had to give.

He taught in several communities, South Prong among them, before arriving in Terrell. In 1900, William Henry Burnett became principal of Terrell's Black School. Now, forty-four years is a long time to lead anything.

Most folks can't hold a single conviction for forty-four years, let alone a school system. But Burnett held on, and he built. He organized the system's first high school program.

He formed a school band and directed it himself. He earned a reputation as a public speaker, ran teacher workshops and seminars, and by any reasonable accounting became one of the leading educators in the state of Texas. He was an active Mason, a church member, a civic leader.

The man was everywhere his community needed him to be. Burnett passed in 1944, having spent his life delivering on the promise that Wilson saw in that farm boy all those years before. His impact on Terrell's school system, the marker says, was dramatic.

And in 1979, thirty-five years after his death, the elementary school at this very site was named for him. Some legacies you carry with you. Some legacies carry you.

William Henry Burnett, born 1872, earned the second kind.

What the marker says

(1872 - 1944) In the 1880s Presbyterian missionary Alexander R. Wilson began conducting school in the rural South Prong community of Ellis County. One of his pupils was a promising black farm boy named William Henry Burnett. Through Wilson's personal guidance, Burnett received an education and was awarded a scholarship to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Trained as a teacher, he returned to Texas where he dedicated his life to the education of black children. After teaching in several communities, including South Prong, Burnett became principal of Terrell's Black School in 1900. Among his accomplishments during 44 years of service in that capacity were the organization of the system's first high school program and the formation of a school band which he directed. Noted for his public speaking ability and his teacher workshops and seminars, he became one of the leading educators of the state. He was also an active Mason, church member and civic leader. Burnett's commitment to quality education had a dramatic impact on the development of Terrell's school system. Because of his lasting contributions to area children, the elementary school at this site was named for him in 1979.