Who Is
Mary
Persons?
Confederate widow raised two boys
who became civic leaders in Forsyth
Who is Mary Persons?
It’s perhaps the most wellknown name in all of Monroe
County -- Mary Persons, the
namesake of the county’s longtime high school.
In fact, it’s thought to be the
only high school in Georgia to
be named for a woman. So who
was this woman and what did
she do?
Mary Barry Persons was
born far away from Monroe
County, in Texas, in 1850. She
came to a new women’s college
in Macon called Wesleyan and
became its first graduate with
honors in 1869.
She met and married Robert
Turner Persons, a native of
Crawford County. He had served
as a courier to Gen. Robert
The name Mary Persons means football to many around Middle Georgia, and not
many know the real story about the Confederate widow and single mother who
raised two leaders in Forsyth.
8
HERITAGE
Mary Persons, the namesake of Monroe County’s only high school, lost her husband, a Confederate veteran. As a single mother she raised two boys who became
civic and business leaders in Forsyth.
E. Lee during the Civil War.
At Farmer’s Bank in Forsyth
today, you can still find a letter
from Lee authorizing Persons to
travel through the battle lines.
After the war, became a medical
doctor in 1869 at Bellvue Hospital. He returned to Fort Valley
and married Mary Barry on Nov.
21, 1869. The Persons had two
boys, Robert Turner Persons
in 1871 and George Ogden
Persons in 1872.
Unfortunately, Persons also
contracted tuberculosis during
the war and it claimed him in
1875 at the age of 31. Suddenly,
Mary Persons found herself a
widow with no income and two
young boys to feed and raise.
She lost her home and land in
Fort Valley and moved to Forsyth where she moved with her
two boys into a boarding house
and took a job teaching school.
She sent her boys to Emory
University and the University
of Georgia where they studied
law. The Persons boys returned
to Forsyth after law school and
enjoyed successful careers both
as attorneys, Ogden as a judge,
and also founding the Farmers
Bank.
In her later years, Mary
Barry Persons lived in the Pye
House with her two sons on
Johnston Street across from
the Methodist Church. A strong,
courageous woman, Mary
Persons raised two sons after
losing her husband and home
at Fort Valley. She not only
survived but thrived in those
difficult Reconstruction years in
Georgia. To honor their mother’s
courage and sacrifice, her
sons gave land for schools and
funded many school buildings in
her name. None of them is better known, however, than Mary
Persons High School in Forsyth,
a tribute to a strong woman who
overcame tough times to raise
two boys who made a positive
difference in Monroe County.
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