William Hobart Stafford

The marker is a newcomer with a recent history. The Waxahachie Sun reported in June 2026 that the Ellis County Historical Commission unveiled it at Stafford Elementary School in Italy on June 19, one of fifteen undertold markers approved that year under a Texas Historical Commission program for lesser-known subjects. Elmerine Allen Bell, proprietor of the Italy Colored City Hall Museum, led the research, and Sharan Farmer compiled much of it into the application. Descendants brought family memorabilia, including a bust of Stafford, and a state commissioner called the marker's words notable educator an understatement.

What the plaque says

William Hobart Stafford Born on June 28, 1873, in Weston, Missouri, William Hobart Stafford was a notable Ellis County educator. His father, John Thomas Stafford, served with Company D in the 65th Missouri Colored Infantry during the Civil War, and later studied at Lincoln Institute, a college funded by companies of black soldiers, to become a teacher. William also graduated from Lincoln Institute and became a teacher. By 1895, John had moved his wife Mary (Fermon) and children to Texas. After teaching some years in Houston's Second Ward, Ferris, and Gatesville, William married Bessie Lee Barrens (1897-1997) in 1922. The next year, the Italy school board hired William and Bessie to teach at Italy Colored School, the segregated school for African American children. His students were mostly from sharecropping families, and farm owners limited the number of days students could attend school during harvest. The school building lacked basic supplies and connections for water, electricity and gas. In 1929, Stafford advocated to his neighbors to give the right-of-way needed for electric service, and during the great depression, for school attendance and for students to further their education through attending higher-level schools in nearby cities. By 1940, the Italy school board adopted a split-session plan, which allowed students an extended break during harvest season. The school board also changed the school's name from Italy colored school to Stafford school. Professor Stafford died on January 5, 1947. When the Italy school board voted to build a new school for African Americans in 1960, they constructed the school adjacent to Stafford's still-standing home. The legacy of William Hobart Stafford continues to inspire academic excellence. (2024)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ellis County Courthouse — 15 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's courthouse of 1897 in Pecos red sandstone and pink granite, with twenty-one carved stone faces and two cornerstones left by a quarrel over its building.
• Hill County Courthouse — 18 mi
  Wesley C. Dodson's limestone Second Empire courthouse of 1890 on the Hillsboro square, gutted by fire on New Year's Day 1993 and rededicated in 1999 after a rebuilding that two Willie Nelson concerts helped pay for.
• Petroleum Industry Park — 26 mi
  The pipes and drilling tower mark where a city water well struck oil on June 9, 1894, the start of the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities.

More markers nearby

• Italy Colored City Hall — steps away
• General Edward H. Tarrant — 0.6 mi
• Site of the Plantation Home of Edward H. Tarrant — 3.8 mi
• Cotton Industry in Ellis County — 3.8 mi