JEFFERSON SCHOOL 1850-1878 was on the south side of Jefferson Pike and east of the village. It was near the old Ridley or Davis flour mill and on a lot
which had been owned by Robert Weakley. The site is indicated on the Beers Map of 1878.
The one-room building was of frame.
Jim McClain was a teacher.
Frances Mitchell Wailer, b. 1846, was a student. She talked about Sam Davis being a classmate but it is not known whether they were classmates in this school or at WALNUT GROVE SCHOOL.
The school was also used as a church.
The site is now under the water of Percy Priest Lake.
SOURCES: Interview, May 9, 1984, with Everett Wailer, grandson of Frances Mitchell Waller. Hoover, pp. 282-83. *Gene Sloan, “Jefferson Probably Had County’s First School;’ The Daily News Journal Accent, Sept. 4, 1977.