310. Tate High School Gets New Principal and Raise 1918

Updated: Mar 28, 2022

Peter Lazarus Diamond was born on October 16, 1849 in Escambia County, Alabama. By 1851, he and his parents had moved to Milton, Florida where his father farmed for a living. However, as the clouds of war gathered, the South called forth her warriors and the Diamond's replied. Four of the sons marched off to war. The oldest William M. enlisted in Company "B" of the 3rd Florida Cavalry Battalion, later Company "D" of the 15th Confederate Cavalry Regiment. John C. followed him the following year. The youngest two, Peter Lazarus and George Sloman enlisted in the Confederate Home Guard in 1863 and spent the war at Bluff Springs, FL. All served until the surrender except for William who was captured in Alabama and imprisoned at Ft. Blakely on Mobile Bay.

Peter would marry Mary E. Ezell in Baldwin County in 1877 with two children soon to follow; Jonathan "John" Thomas and Henry Diamond. John was born on in Jay, Florida on September 26, 1878. He would eventually marry in 1909 to Esther "Essie" T. Godfrey (1880-1933) who would bear him two daughters Rowena and Roberta. After his educational pursuits, John would become a renowned educator and administrator in both Escambia and Santa Rosa County. In 1915, he became the Santa Rosa County Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was replaced in 1918 by James David Smith at which time John applied for the position as Principal of Tate High School in Gonzales. He was selected by Charles Jacob Levey to fill the position among a bevy of qualified applicants. In another arena of concern, Levey was finding it difficult to retain teachers due to the low pay in 1918. Even with the hiring of Caroline Finney and Miss Bessie Alcorn they were still short of qualified teachers. In response, the board raised their salary for the upcoming year from $40 to $70 per month. In the rural areas, the pay was raised from $45 to $100 depending on the size of the school. Principals, by comparison, were given raises depending on the size of their schools. The school board was hoping that the raises was stem the tide of teachers leaving the classroom for more lucrative employment right at home.

Levey was also searching for a new principal of Pensacola High School left vacant by Ross Rogers. He left Pensacola to return home to Sewickley, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania where he was inducted into the US Army on October 22, 1918. He was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps as a private and served stateside during WWI until his discharge on December 23, 1918. After the war, Ross became a stock broker in stocks and bonds for the E. H. Rollins & Sons Company and would pass away from heart failure on February 15, 1969 He was returned for burial in the Sewickley Cemetery.

In the meantime, around 1920, John Diamond was appointed as the "Executive Secretary to the Florida State Board of Control The board was responsible for the "supervision of Florida's system of institutions of higher learning" according to M. Luther King, Milton historian. Thus, John and Essie moved to Tallahassee, where Essie passed away in 1933. He would marry Mae Moreno in 1934, the daughter of Cameron Anderson Moreno and Seana Barclay Crary. Her lineage goes back to Don Francisco Moreno, the early Spanish King of Pensacola. John and Mae would retire in 1958 and return to live in Jay, Florida. His works can still be read in full through the "Friends of Pace Library.org. John would also write of the early educational days in a Pensacola News Journal article of December 22, 1957 by Miriam Sawyer. The Jay Historical Society also has writings by Diamond for review.

On December 23, 1963, John and Mae were visiting his daughter Roberta in Polk County, Florida when he died in the hospital after a long illness. He was returned to Jay where he was buried next to Essie in the Cora Baptist Church Cemetery. His wife Mae would pass away in 1968 and was buried in Montrose Cemetery in Baldwin Co., Alabama.