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Local figure

John William Canada

John William Canada took his A.B. at the University of North Carolina in 1896 and that fall opened a preparatory school in Chapel Hill, which the student paper welcomed as the village's high school. As enrollment grew he moved the school into Dr. Abner B. Roberson's Patterson Hotel building at Franklin and Columbia streets, and by September 1897 it had eight teachers and 124 pupils. The school closed in 1901.

Source: The Tar Heel, September 19, 1896

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StorylineChapel Hill's public school becomes a graded district, 1900–19091900–1909 · 6 events · Chapel Hill's public schooling began the decade as a contract with two private teachers and ended it as a graded school district run free of the Orange County board. In 1900 the school board ruled that the Canadas' school was not a public school, since the teachers had not met the school law, and withheld their pay; John W. Canada's school closed in 1901. In 1903 the commissioners called a special school tax election in the district, and the school committee later bought the old Canada building. An act ratified in February 1909 created the Chapel Hill Graded School District, with a special school tax and six trustees, subject to the voters' approval in May.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 4 dated events in the chronology →

  1. John W. Canada starts the Canada School in Chapel Hill Soon after graduating from the university in 1896, John W. Canada organized a private school in Chapel Hill that prepared students for college. He ran it with his brother Charles, Sallie Wilson and a Miss Hendon until he left for Texas soon after 1900. People: Louis Graves, Charles Edward Maddry, John William Canada Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Charles S. Canada, Sallie WilsonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 143
  2. The Canada School takes over Dr. Roberson's Patterson Hotel building The Canada School had outgrown its rooms behind the post office, so in 1896 John W. Canada hired more teachers and moved into the Patterson Hotel building, which Dr. Abner Benton Roberson owned. The building's run as a hotel was short. People: Abner Benton Roberson, John William Canada Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Internet Archive: Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 169
  3. John W. Canada's Chapel Hill School reports 189 pupils for 1898-99 The Chapel Hill School for boys and girls, run by John W. Canada, advertised an enrollment of 189 for its 1898-99 session, up from the 150 pupils and eight teachers it had claimed when its fall term opened on August 30, 1898. Place: Chapel Hill School, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Chapel Hill SchoolSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), November 2, 1899, p. 1
  4. John W. Canada's school closes and its building becomes a rooming house The John W. Canada School closed, and the old building on the southwest corner of Franklin and Columbia streets where it had met became a rooming house. The brick building beside it was used as a Masonic hall. People: John William Canada Place: Former Patterson Hotel, southwest corner of Franklin and Columbia streets, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Franklin and Columbia streetsSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 179

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  • NC LIVE: prepared search for John William Canada Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
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