A TRIBUTE OF THANKS TO MRS. GOERTNER E. MUMFORD PARKHURST,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester Mumford
Over the years there have been numerous Brantley County high school graduates that received aid from
the Mumford Scholarship Fund to attend college. A large number of these college graduates returned to
Brantley County after receiving their degrees and dedicated their lives to teaching other children.
Others made sacrifices in neighboring counties. Do you think, perhaps, that this might have
been the intent of Mrs. Parkhurst when she established the Mumford Scholarship Foundation?
Mrs. Parkhurst had a compassion and love for the area, and upon establishing her will in 1937, left
nearly a million dollars in trust for the education of boys and girls of Brantley County.
Her wishes were activated in 1946, upon her death in Washington D.C..
The recipients of a Mumford Scholarship want to say, "Thanks, Mrs.
Goertner for remembering us. Your compassion and love gave us
a head-start in life. We'll always remember the love and compassion
of your heart that contributed to our lives."
A group of Mumford Scholarship recipients have met twice to discuss the
possibility of setting up a nonprofit organization to give back to the
Brantley County Schools what was given to us by the Mumford Foundation.
In other words, provide an opportunity for recipients to contribute to the
education of boys and girls in Brantley County.
Our next meeting (3rd organizational meeting) will be June 14, 2004 at 9 a.m. at
the B.O.E. in Nahunta. Hopefully, more recipients will attend. We
are looking for the names and addresses of all recipients of the Mumford
Scholarship in Brantley County. Contact Mrs.
Susie Lee Bell Jacobs
The three major parts of the Mumford Scholarship Fund is as follows:
(1) THE THERESA MUMFORD MEMORIAL FUND (1/3), honored her mother and was
created for the maintenance and education of white orphan girls of Brantley County.
(2)THE SYLVESTER MUMFORD MEMORIAL FUND (1/3), honoring her father,
for the maintenance and supporting scholarships to The Georgia State College for
Women, for the benefit of poor and deserving white girls from Brantley County.
(3) THE SYLVESTER MUMFORD ENDOWMENT, honoring her father (1/3), to the "Board of Visitors
of the Thornwell Orphanage," (sic) located at Clinton, South Carolina, to be used in caring
for white orphan girls and boys who are poor and who are natives of the State of Georgia,
preferably those from Brantley (formerly Wayne) County in the State of Georgia.
See Mrs. Goertner Mumford Parkhurt's Will, below:
LAST WILL OF MRS. GOERTNER E. MUMFORD PARKHURST
On September 9, 1937, Mrs. Goertner E. Mumford Parkhurst's Will was read: "I Goertner E.
Mumford Parkhurst, widow of the District of Columbia, formerly of Waynesville,
Wayne (now Brantley), County, in the State of Georgia, do hereby make,
publish and declare this to be my last will and testament...",
Mrs. Parkhurst, the former Miss Mumford who was remembered so well as the captivating
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester Mumford and as the young heiress to the Mumford's
vast fortune, also remembered her home as she penned her will, leaving various items and
money to ones who had been dear to her in life.
Then, in the latter section of the document, she wrote the following:...to divide the
rest and residue of my said property into three (3) equal parts and to give absolutely said
parts as follows, namely:
One-third (1/3) part of the Trustees of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States, known as the Southern Presbyterian Church, for the maintenance and education of
white orphan girls of Brantley (formerly Wayne) County in the State of Georgia; said one-third
part to be invested and re-invested by the proper officers of said Assembly and the income
only therefore to be used for the aforesaid purposes; the principal of the fund to be known as
"The Theresa Mumford Memorial Fund" the said Assembly shall have power to select institutions
at which the beneficiaries many be placed, either within or without said State;"
One-third (1/3) part to "The Georgia State College for Women" (sic), Georgia, said one-third (1/3)
part to be invested and re-invested by the proper officials of said College and only the income
therefrom to be used in maintaining and supporting scholarships in said College for the benefit
of poor and deserving white girls from Brantley (formerly Wayne) County in the State of Georgia;
the principal of the fund to be known as "The Sylvester Mumford Memorial Fund"; the selection of
said girls shall be in the discretion of the proper officials of said College; and
One-third (1/3) part to the "Board of Visitors of the Thornwell Orphanage," (sic) located at
Clinton, South Carolina, said one-third (1/3) part to be invested and re-invested by said Board
and only the income to be used in caring for white orphan girls and boys who are poor and who are
natives of the State of Georgia, preferably those from Brantley (formerly Wayne) County in the
State of Georgia; the selections of such girls and boys shall be in the discretion of the proper
officers of said orphanage; the principal of the fund to be known as "The Sylvester Mumford Endowment";
Section 3: In the event that said legacy to said General Assembly and said legacy to said
Orphanage, or either of them, should become void or fail for any reason to be given to them,
or either of them, then I hereby authorize and empower said American Security and Trust Company,
as Trustees, to give absolutely the legacy of the one, or both, so becoming void or failing to said
"The Georgia State College for Women:" in augmentation of the legacy of a one-third (1/3) part
herein before authorized and directed to be given to said College..."
