William Allan, a Washington and Lee University applied mathematics professor and former Confederate ordnance officer, was appointed founding Principal of McDonogh School by the Board of Trustees, led by President Samuel H. Tagart. Principal Allan hired a staff including Duncan Campbell Lyle (known as “Old Man Lyle”) as assistant principal and teacher and Josepha Young as the first matron.
Allan was known as a strict disciplinarian but not a harsh one. He formed the students into military squads with each having a corporal and a sergeant. A main tenet of his educational philosophy was the encouragement of individual interests and skills. Two years after the school opened, he pressed the Board of Trustees for shops and machinery to train students for the working world. In 1885, he submitted a proposal to the Board asking to allow paying students, but trustees refused it. Following a long illness, Col. Allan passed away in 1889 at the age of 52.
