Years ago, I found this book, Hints to Small Libraries, in the "library" of the 1815 Duncan House on Front Street. Published in 1898, the book was likely acquired by Nannie
Pasteur Davis Geffroy about the time St. Paul's School reopened in 1899 or soon after.
Nannie signed her name on the inside of the cover - Mifs [or Nifs] N.P. Geoffrey - possibly using the old-style double "s" for Miss. (She was, however, married at the time;* she also used the old spelling of Geffroy) If Nifs - NIFs (non-instructional facility) refers to a school building without classrooms or a library building without public areas.
In
her book, The Old Port Town Beaufort North Carolina, historian Jean Bruyere Kell spelled the name
"Geoffroy." Mrs. Kell worked for Nannie Geffroy at St. Paul's School during the
Depression and used to sit on the porch of the house at 201 Ann Street (now plaqued James Davis House circa 1817). Nannie Geffroy used the house as office, school
infirmary and home away from home (311 Ann) while she dedicated her life to St. Paul's School. (The 1900 Beaufort Census recorded name as
Geoffrey. Informant on her death certificate, half sibling Ella D.
Davis gave spelling as Geffroy.)
St. Paul's School: In 1858, St. Paul's School opened in a building behind and just east of 201 Ann Street. Led by Van Antwerp, with teachers Caroline Van Antwerp, Elizabeth Roberson and Sarah Pasteur, the school closed in 1867. The school reopened in 1899 under the guidance of Rev. Thomas P. Noe, with help from Sarah Pasteur Davis' daughter Nannie Davis Geffroy (born Mary Ann Davis, she changed her name sometime after her mother's death and before she married Malachi Geffroy).
A new school was erected in 1900 on the lot east of the church, followed in 1906 by Watson Hall Dormitory between the church and 201 Ann Street. The 1858 school building was then used as a Manual Training School. From 1899 until her death in 1936, Nannie Geffroy was first as secretary-treasurer, then headmistress of St. Paul's School.
*Malachi Roberson Geffroy (1861-1938) and Nannie P. Davis (1865-1936) were married 31 Aug 1885 by minister E.M. Forbes; witnesses: Alonzo Thomas, John D. Davis and James L. Manney. Both were buried in St. Paul's Cemetery.
