The Gravesite of Bernard Mallon

For reasons not immediately clear, I found myself this afternoon thinking of Bernard Mallon, the university president (or principal, as the office was then) who went down in university lore as the first man to hold the position and the first to die in office. His tenure was all of eleven days, October 10 to 21, 1879.

Now I know I’m late in marking the milestone, but I didn’t recall seeing any fanfare a few years back about the 125th anniversary of his death. Granted a death is hardly a cause for celebration and it’s not like much happened during his momentary administration (except for presiding over opening-day ceremonies, which was what the whole 125th anniversary was about, I suppose).

Anyway, I’ve never seen much more about the guy except that he was big in the Atlanta, Georgia public schools before his Huntsville debut. Wasn’t sure about his birth place or year, where he was buried, or that sort of thing.

Now we know: Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta. A shaft of Italian marble was erected by the teachers and students of the Atlanta school system in honor their first superintendent, one which notes he was born in Ireland on September 14, 1824. Mallon first arrived in Georgia in November 1848 and stayed in the school system until August 1879. History notes his 800-mile move west to Huntsville and his death mere months later, in October.