Stockbridge Tutors Come To You

It is widely believed that the city of Stockbridge, Georgia, twenty miles southeast of Atlanta, was named after a “Professor Stockbridge,” but until 1992, no one knew much about the man, not even his first name.

The area was settled in about 1829 with the organization of the Concord Methodist Church. The town applied for and was granted a post office in 1847. Applying for a post office required declaration of a city name, and city officials deemed the town’s name to be “Stockbridge.” The city’s namesake, Professor Stockbridge, was either the only travelling teacher in the area or the best one, but regardless, the man was well liked and respected.

In 1992, Stockbridge’s mayor received a letter from someone named John Stockbridge, a resident of South Carolina. In the letter, John Stockbridge requested a letter of greeting to attendees of the first reunion of the Stockbridge family. John mentioned he had been told as a child that the City of Stockbridge had been named after his great-great-grandfather, Levi Stockbridge, a Yankee professor. Finally, people could connect a full name to the name of the city!

John disclosed that Levi often traveled back and forth from his property in the North down to Florida and would stop in Stockbridge. According to the family’s records, Levi was born in 1820 and would have been about twenty-seven years old when the City of Stockbridge was granted a post office, so the timing made sense.

Officials can’t say for sure if Levi Stockbridge is the same Professor Stockbridge who was the inspiration behind the city’s name. If it is the correct man, the professor, who was from Hadley, Massachusetts, was a farmer and a scientist and held patents in fertilizer development, soil mulching, and nutrient leaching. He also served three terms in the Massachusetts State Legislature, thirty-two years as state cattle commissioner, and twelve years on the state board of agriculture. He was named the fifth president of Massachusetts Agricultural College, today’s University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The university went on to honor Professor Stockbridge by naming the school of agriculture (Stockbridge School of Agriculture) and its building (Stockbridge Hall) after him.

After John Stockbridge came forth and provided more information about his family, many people believed Levi Stockbridge was the correct namesake. However, some people think the city was named after a different man: Thomas Stock. In the 1820, Stock was the State Surveyor and President of the Georgia State Senate. There’s not much more information available about Thomas Stock, so the City of Stockbridge will always have an air of mystery to its name.