Profiles from a tour of the Old Baptist Church Cemetery In Monroe, Georgia

Conducted, Written and provided courtesy Nowell Briscoe ( nowellbriscoe@bellsouth.net )

 JOEL ROOKS AND MARTHA ROOKS SCHAEFFER

Our last two graves, No. 17 & 18 are those of Joel Rooks and his sister, Martha Rooks Schaeffer, affectionately known as “Miss Puss”. While Joel Rooks was an early 1850’s carpenter who died on May 25, 1864, it was his sister Martha who laid claim for the personality and charm of the two. Martha Rooks Schaeffer was one of three ladies to serve the town as postmaster.  Martha first began her stint as the head of the post office while still single. She had a small wooden structure built in her back yard which served as the city’s post office.  The one-room facility fronted on our present Midland Ave and was also accessible from today’s East Spring Street.  When she took on the appointment scarcely two years after the Civil War, on March 21, 1867, she began what was to be 88 years of feminine occupancy of this position. Martha Rooks Schaeffer was postmaster from March 1867 to May 1886. She was followed by Miss Willie Sheats who held the office from January 1897 to December 1926. 

  On December 11, 1926, Irene Walker Field took office holding the title for 29 years, the longest tenure in the Monroe Post Office history.  Anita Sams records in her history of Monroe some entertaining stories concerning “Miss Puss’s” tenure at the post office referring to her as one of Monroe’s “most colorful characters”.  One comment was made about how hard it was for her to turn loose the tight reins she held on the post office and if she had not died when she did, she might have held on a bit longer!  She died on November 16, 1900 and the stone covering her grave reads: “Hers was a noble, useful, consecrated life.”

        I hope today’s tour of old Monroe has provided a glimpse  of the fore-bearers who brought honor and distinction to our city and now take their rest in this beautiful consecrated plot of land that dates so far back. It has been a privilege to compile and present to you this look back in time and visit with those whose names are indelibly stamped in the pages of Monroe’s history.