Portrait from the Annual Report of the Georgia Department of Education, 1915
With a name that brings to mind a Sesame Street-themed amusement park, the humorously named Fort Elmo Land served as the Georgia State Superintendent of Education from 1925-1927 before his untimely death at age 49. I first discovered the name of Fort E. Land in my school library, listed in the Who Was Who In America, 1897-1942 edition. The brief biography allotted to him in said book amounted to just a few lines and ten years after his discovery, information on Mr. Land is still difficult to come by.
Fort Elmo Land was born in Twigg County, Georgia on June 30, 1878, being the son of Henry Freeman (a Confederate veteran) and Mona Land. He graduated from Emory College in Atlanta, Georgia in the class of 1901 and for two years served as a high school principal (1902-03.) Two years later he was appointed as Superintendent of Schools for Cordele, Georgia, serving in this post until 1908. Land was later named to the superintendent position in the town schools of Sparks, Lyons, and Dawson, Georgia, serving at the latter from 1908-1912.
Land married on March 6, 1912, in Dawson, Georgia to Susie Barrows Gurr (1876-1950), and their union produced one son, Fort Elmo Land Jr. (1920-1945). An officer with the U.S. Navy during WWII, Fort E. Land Jr. was killed in action in 1945 when the "Hellcat fighter" aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a training run.
Throughout his short life, Land was heavily invested in many aspects of Georgia's educational affairs, becoming the Georgia State Supervisor of Rural Schools in 1912. He served in that capacity for eight years, and soon after was named as State Director of Vocational Education, serving until 1925. In the 1924 election year, Land announced his candidacy for Georgia State Superintendent of Education. He was elected in November of that year, polling 156,807 votes, and assumed office in January 1925. During his tenure Land, in the position of state superintendent, sat on the boards of the Georgia Historical Commission, the State Geological Board, and "on the board of directors of numerous colleges and secondary schools in the state."
Fort Elmo Land (and his misspelled name) from the Zodiac Yearbook from Emory College, 1901.
Throughout his short life, Land was heavily invested in many aspects of Georgia's educational affairs, becoming the Georgia State Supervisor of Rural Schools in 1912. He served in that capacity for eight years, and soon after was named as State Director of Vocational Education, serving until 1925. In the 1924 election year, Land announced his candidacy for Georgia State Superintendent of Education. He was elected in November of that year, polling 156,807 votes, and assumed office in January 1925. During his tenure Land, in the position of state superintendent, sat on the boards of the Georgia Historical Commission, the State Geological Board, and "on the board of directors of numerous colleges and secondary schools in the state."
Shortly before his death Land was sworn in for a second term as state superintendent and served as Georgia's chief educational officer until his death at age 49 on July 25, 1927. Newspapers of the time mention that Land developed a very serious illness during his tenure in office, and one in particular (the Oconee Enterprise) gives notice that his death was caused by "an illness of six weeks resulting from an attack of ptomaine poisoning". Shortly after his passing Land was interred at the Sunnyside Cemetery in the town of Cordele in Crisp County, Georgia. His wife Susie survived him by over two decades, dying in 1950 at age 74.
Following his passing Fort E. Land was memorialized in the Enterprise as "winning the esteem and confidence in the communities he served", and had made "an unusually efficient record in civilian rehabilitation work of the federal and state departments of education." Land was further eulogized by Georgia's Governor Lamartine Hardman, who remarked:
Following his passing Fort E. Land was memorialized in the Enterprise as "winning the esteem and confidence in the communities he served", and had made "an unusually efficient record in civilian rehabilitation work of the federal and state departments of education." Land was further eulogized by Georgia's Governor Lamartine Hardman, who remarked:
"In the passing of Fort E. Land, state school superintendent, the state loses one of its foremost and highly respected citizens. He was one of the outstanding progressive spirits for the cause of education in Georgia, whose life was consecrated to this service. He was especially noted for his efforts in behalf of the common schools and in behalf of equalized education."
From the Atlanta Constitution, July 26, 1927.
He is my great uncle by marriage to my great aunt Susan V. Barrow. Susan was a widow with 2 children when he married her. Those children are Frances Gurr McLanahan and Thomas Gurr Junior.
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