{{Short description|American educator (1860–1928)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = David Abner Jr. | image = David Abner Jr.jpg | caption = Abner in 1887 | birth_date = {{birth date|1860|11|25}} | birth_place = Upshur County, Texas, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1928|8|21|1860|11|25}} | death_place = Houston, Texas, US | alma_mater = | occupation = Educator, journalist | party = | spouse = Ella M. Wheeler (1877–1950) | children = 2 | module = {{Infobox religious biography|embed=yes | religion = Baptist }} }}

'''David Abner Jr.''' (November 25, 1860 – July 21, 1928) was an American educator. He was the first president of Guadalupe College and then of Conroe College.

==Early life== David Abner Jr. was born November 25, 1860, in Upshur County, Texas, the son of David Abner and Louisa Abner. His family was enslaved until emancipation, but his father would become a delegate to the state constitutional convention and state legislature. In 1870 they moved to Marshall, Texas, where Abner attended Wiley University. He then enrolled in Straight University in New Orleans. In 1877 he enrolled at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1881 he enrolled at Bishop College, where he graduated in 1884,<ref name="Simmons1887">{{cite book | last1 = Simmons | first1= William J | first2 = Henry McNeal | last2 = Turner | title = Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising | publisher = George M. Rewell & Company |date= 1887 |pages =1119–1121 | url = https://archive.org/details/06293247.4682.emory.edu | chapter = CLXIII. Professor David Abner, Jr. |oclc=06293247 | location = Cleveland, OH}}</ref> becoming the first African American to graduate from a Texas school of higher education.<ref name="Glasrud2011">{{cite book |editor1-last=Glasrud |editor1-first=Bruce A.|last=Glasrud |first=Bruce A. | title = African Americans in South Texas History | publisher = Texas A&M University Press | date= April 13, 2011 | page = 15 |isbn=978-1603442282}}</ref> He then became a professor at the school. He was a delegate to the National Convention of Colored men (part of the Colored Conventions Movement) in September 1883; in 1884 he became the corresponding secretary of the Baptist State Convention of Texas. He also edited the convention's paper, known as the ''Baptist Journal'' and later as the ''Baptist Pilot''.<ref name="Simmons1887"/>

==College president== In 1884, Guadalupe College was founded, primarily through the efforts of William B. Ball, who would later serve as president. The school opened in 1887, and Abner was made the first president of the school, a position he served until 1905,<ref name="Glasrud2011"/> when he was forcibly removed due to opposition within the Baptist church leadership. The denomination opened a new (third) convention in the state and created a new college, Conroe College.<ref>{{cite news | title = Harmony Among Negro Baptists | newspaper = Galveston Daily News | date = September 20, 1910 | page = 9 | accessdate = February 8, 2017 | via = Newspapers.com | url-access = subscription | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8830393/}}</ref> Abner served as councilman for the Texas House of Councils. In 1906, Abner was elected the first president of Conroe College.<ref>{{cite news | title = Conroe Negro College. David Abner, Jr., Has Been Elected President. | newspaper = Houston Post | date = September 29, 1906 | page = 7 | accessdate = February 8, 2017 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8830264/conroe_negro_college_the_houston_post/ | via = Newspapers.com | url-access = subscription}}</ref>

==Personal life== Abner married Ella M. Wheeler (1877–1950),<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.collegeparkcemetery.org/gravesite/abner-mrs-ella-may/ | title = Abner, Mrs. Ella May | website = College Park Cemetery Association | accessdate = October 12, 2020}}</ref> with whom he had two children. He died on August 21, 1928, in Houston, Texas.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.collegeparkcemetery.org/gravesite/abner-professor-david/ | title = Abner, Professor David | website = College Park Cemetery Association | accessdate = October 12, 2020}}</ref>

== See also ==

* Men of Mark

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * {{cite book | title = Negro Education: A Study of the Private and Higher Schools for Colored People in the United States | year = 1917 | volume = 2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=57MJAAAAIAAJ&dq=Negro+Education%3A+A+Study+of+the&pg=PA602 | pages = 602–603 | section = Conroe Normal and Industrial College}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abner, David Jr.}} Category:1860 births Category:1928 deaths Category:19th-century African-American educators Category:19th-century American educators Category:African-American journalists Category:American male journalists Category:Bishop College alumni Category:Educators from Texas Category:Fisk University alumni Category:People from Upshur County, Texas Category:Straight University alumni Category:Wiley University alumni Category:20th-century African-American educators Category:20th-century American educators