Strother

It was named after French Strother.

(Undated article from the Monroe Appeal; from the files of Neil Block, transcribed by Lisa Perry)

Strother, ten miles south east of Paris, was the first neighborhood to take rank as the home of higher education. At a very early day several pioneer citizens, including Captain John Forsythe, Jacob Cox, Joseph E. (Sproul), William Vaughn, Hiram (Powell), Willis Bledsoe and William T. (Bridgeford), organized to establish a school of higher grades than the ordinary school district school of the county.

John M. Lyle, a graduate of (Mary…) College, was employed as a teacher. As an outgrowth of this effort, Strother Institute was later established, with Prof. French Strother as principal; French Wood, assistant; Mrs. S.A. Strother, principal of music; Mrs Bertha Baker as assistant.