Death of Thomas S. Gathright.
Special to The Clarion.
Henderson, Texas, May 25, l880.
Hon. Thomas S. Gathright, late President of the A. and M. College, died here at 11:30 a.m. G.W.L. Smythe.
We have no other particulars of the distressing event than is related in the above despatch. The news of the death of Thomas S. Gathright, will carry sorrow to thousands of hearts. They will mourn the loss of a man who was beloved for his many virtues, and who had long stood conspicuous and distinguished in his great and useful calling. As an educator, he had few equals, and no superiors. In all the varied relations of life, he was pure, exemplary and good. He came to Mississippi from Georgia in his boyhood, poor and unknown; but by his own energy and skill he laid the foundations of his future career of usefulness and fame. For twenty-five years he presided over the Summerville Institute, and gave it a name which few institutions of Learning in the country has ever enjoyed. There are thousands who have received their early training under the tutelage of Thomas S. Gathright, and will rise up to call him blessed. He did not seek the world's honors; but among the dignities conferred by his brethren of the Mystic Tie, was that of Grand Master of their Order. In 1876, he was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction of Mississippi, and while filling the office, he was chosen President of the A. & M. College of Texas. It was rapidly built up under his administration, but dissensions in the faculty caused him to retire, when he was immediately placed at the head of the College at Henderson, Texas, where he died. For the last ten years he had been a constant contributor to the columns of The Clarion, and his brilliant, sparkling, but withal, philosophical and practical letters, will be sadly missed by its readers. We can not at present attempt a sketch of the incidents of his life. He did not live unto himself. He lived for his country; and the verdict will go forth that a great and a good man has fallen in Israel. Weekly Clarion (Jackson, MS), 26 May 1880, page 2

Henderson, Texas, May 26 – Deep gloom still prevails over our little city. Our people are slow to realize the serious loss which they have sustained in the death of Prof. Thomas S. Gathright. They had determined he should remain among us, and the most effective means were being devised to give him a permanent home among us. They felt proud of his citizenship and were determined to atone for whatever indifference was manifested to-ward his school at first. A large number of citizens assembled at the Davenport house to take a final leave of him who had been with them so short a time. He was buried by the masons and the knights of honor of which worthy institutions he was a member. He was a gentleman of the highest order of intellect, a gifted author, a kind husband and a loving father. He was a man well known throughout Mississippi, a gentleman of the old school. When Mr. Davis was offered the presidency of the Agricultural and Mechanical college, he declined, but designated Prof. Gathright as a man eminently fitted for that position. He was buried by the side of his friend of happier years, Charles A. Smith, of Mississippi, both soldiers of the confederacy, citizens of the south, who, when all else was lost never traded away her honor or denied her history, and now lie side by side, stranger in a strange land. Galveston Daily News, 28 May 1880, page 2

How fortunate!
Prof. Thomas S. Gathright, late president of the State Agricultural and Mechanical college at Bryan, and whose death was published in the Herald on the 21th instant, took out a policy in the “Equitable Life," of New York, for $4,000 about two years ago. When the last quarterly premium fell due on April 29th, he was unable to meet it. Fortunately it was a tontine with the right of thirty days grace. He died just six days before the expiration of grace, which secures to his family the $4,000. Under any other kind of policy, the amount would have been lost to them. Dallas Daily Herald, 30 May 1880, page 8

Thomas S. Gathright, first President of the A. & M. College of Texas, died at Henderson, Rusk Co., on the 24th, of congestion of the liver. Prof. Gathright was a man of superior ability, long an educator. He was a native of Georgia, but had been in Mississippi many years, and when he left to assume the Presidency of our State College, was superintendent of public education of the State of Mississippi, and came to us endorsed by the Governor and every member of the State Government, and the entire body of the State Legislature. Apparent he was a man of robust health, and we were surprised by the suddenness of his death. Since his removal from the Presidency of the State College, he had been in charge of the Male and Female College of Henderson, a position not adequate to his abilities. He had decided ability of an executive character, and fine mental acumen, and extensive acquirements. He was a man of great energy, and unwearied application. His removal from the Presidency of the College was not from doubt of his capacity, but because the faculty as organized could not work harmoniously together. He had been grand master of the Masonic fraternity of the State of Mississippi and we think was universally held in high esteem in that State. He was a most genial companion, his conversational faculties extra good, and toned with much humor, and capacity for impersonation of individuals with peculiarity of style. For the opening of the A. & M. College, no better selection could have been made. While a thorough and excellent disciplinarian, he was popular with the students, and up to January 1879, the College was in a high state of prosperity and improvement, under his auspices, having a revenue from its tuition fees of $5000 per annum, for the two years previous, which had been expended in the erection of buildings to increase the capacity of the institution for the reception of students. We had not seen him since the time we mention, and know little of his career, but we know that under the auspicious circumstances he was a valuable man to the State, and that the State is a serious loser by his demise. The Standard (Clarksville), 4 June 1880, page 2

Thomas Sanford GATHRIGHT
Born in Monroe County, Georgia. 5 Jan 1829
Married 06 Dec 1851 in Sumter Co.,AL to Sophronia Ann Price,(or Prince)
Died in Henderson, Rusk Co, Texas. May 24 1880
Buried in the City Cemetery, Henderson, Rusk Co, Texas

He first taught at Mount Hebron, Alabama, in 1850.
In 1854 Opened Summerville Institute, a private Boys School in Gholson County, Mississippi.

He managed to avoid serving in the Confederate Army by claiming poor health, family responsibilities, and professional duties, which included providing a free education for the children of indigent soldiers. though he was on good terms with the Confederation.
Thomas S Gathright, a Member of the Masons, served in the prestigious position of Grand Master of Masons of Mississippi from 1868 to 1869

3 Apr 1876 he was Appointed State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Mississippi.
Until Jefferson Davis declined an offer from the Texas A&M Board of Directors and recommended Gathright for the position of the 1st President of the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) July 15, 1876 - November 21, 1879

He was relieved of the presidency November 21, 1979 in a reorganization of the College. Caused by letting an internal dispute between faculty members and himself, all of whom had been chosen by the Board and not by Gathright, grow into a statewide scandal. When After an investigation, the Board of Directors asked for the resignation of Gathright and the entire remaining faculty in late November. Thomas S. Gathright was bitter to the end over this.

After leaving the A&M College he served as the Second president of the Henderson Male and Female College until his death (Dec 1879 - May 24 1880)

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZmNhvmTGdtkC&lpg=PA14&dq=gathright&pg=PA14#v=onepage&q=gathright&f=false

was A High ranking member of the Mason's