EARLY MONROE FAMILIES REMEMBERED

                My January column mentioned briefly one of Monroe’s early leaders, Raymond Fambrough, and the many contributions he made as a business leader and innovator of many early businesses in town. Digging a bit deeper into Mr. Fambrough’s early life I found quite a few interesting facts about him.

        When Mr. Fambrough celebrated his 70^th birthday in September of 1957, The Walton Tribune interviewed him for an article revealing little-known facts about his early life. At the time of the interview he had been a business leader in Monroe for 33 years.

         He recalled his years in town as a one-way road to progress and modernization which he had pursued since he opened up for business the first time on February 1, 1924.  He was usually the first one to open up his dry cleaning and laundry business each day as he liked to see that his employees, his 60-odd electric motors and gallons of steam water and gas piping were ready for the day to begin.

        Raymond Fambrough grew up on a farm with little schooling, only to the third grade, and from the farm he went to serve in World War I.  When he returned from the war he had no money and began looking for a way to secure funds in which to start working to make some money.

        In other of my columns I have mentioned how, when back in the day, folks in town or businesses needed financial assistance, they often went to the Launius family, either Harry or Paul Launius, to ask for help.  Raymond Fambrough did just that; he asked the brothers to loan him the money to begin a business. The Launius brothers saw a steel band of determination and a sincere effort to make a mark in early Monroe so they gave him a loan and in 1924 he began creating businesses being very careful in how he spent the money he was given. Mr. Fambrough commented he continued to credit a great portion of his business success in Monroe to these two men who gave him the start he needed.

        Mr. Fambrough acknowledged one goal of being able to live and be the oldest business man in Monroe.  His creed was “yesterday is gone forever, tomorrow may never come; you have only today---live it and thank God he gave it.”

        Raymond Fambrough’s legacy is sewn firmly into the fabric of Monroe’s tapestry and the memories of him and the success he had are still remembered today.

        The recent death of Monroe native Sidney F. Wheeler on January 21^st brought to mind the prominent family he came from; his ancestors were pioneer Monroe/Walton County citizens and he grew up in the ancestral family home on Broad Street.

        Sidney was born on July 4, 1934 to the late Elizabeth Nowell and Sid Wheeler.  He graduated from Monroe High School in 1952 and graduated from Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia’s School of Law.  He was a trial lawyer for over forty years, principally representing doctors and hospitals in numerous medical malpractice cases.

        Sidney’s father, Sid Wheeler, was a prominent Monroe businessman for over 50 years when he died in October of 1972.  He was born in Putnam County on March 31, 1888, the son of the late Sara McNatt and Paul E. Wheeler.  He came to Monroe in 1915 bringing with him his credentials as a pharmacist and joined Clifford P. Carmichael in business as co-owner of Carmichael’s Drug Company which began business in 1903. In 1917 Mr. Wheeler went to France with the armed forces, serving as pharmacist with the Emory unit.

When Mr. Carmichael died in 1957 he joined Mr. Carmichael’s son-in-law, M. B. (Buck) Lowery in running the well-known business. Although having been sold outside of the family, Carmichael’s is now in its 117^th year of providing service to the Monroe/Walton area. Sid Wheeler was a member of the board of directors for the Monroe Savings & Loan, charter member of the Lindsey-Garrett Post 64 American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4421.  He was also a charter member and past president of the Monroe Rotary Club and a member of the Masons for more than 50 years.

        Sidney Wheeler’s mother was Elizabeth Nowell Wheeler, whose ancestry dates back to the early beginnings of Walton County.

        Elizabeth Nowell was born in Monroe on May 17, 1897, the daughter of the late Ada Carithers and Frank Foster Nowell. Her other early ancestors included the late Mr, and Mrs. Calvin Gordon Nowell and the late Mr. and Mrs. John Richmond Carithers.  Mrs. Wheeler was also related to the Felker, Nunnally & Arnold families. She attended the Monroe public schools and later graduated from Shorter College in Rome.

As it turned out her sister Marjorie, also a Shorter student, married educator Paul Mercer Cousins, who had been teaching at Shorter College since 1915 where he had been working on his dissertation on the life of Joel Chandler Harris.  He became president of Shorter in 1933 and put aside his work on the author of the Uncle Remus Tales.  Cousins served as president of Shorter until 1948 and then returned to teaching at his alma mater, Mercer University as professor of English. It was when his fellow Mercer classmate and longtime friend, Monroe native Dr. Rufus C. Harris, became president of Mercer, he persuaded Dr. Cousins to finish his dissertation which he did in 1966 and his biography of Joel Chandler Harris was published in 1968.

        Mrs. Wheeler was a long-time and faithful member of the Monroe First United Methodist Church and prior to her death was the teacher for the Katie Caldwell Sunday School Class along with serving as past president of the WSCS.  She also served as president of the local chapter of the PTA, Monroe Garden Club and the Athenaeum Club. She was a devoted member of a bridge and canasta group for over forty years and was a beloved hostess for many cultural and social gatherings.

Liz Wheeler died on April 22, 1979 and was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery next to her husband and in close proximity to her other ancestors who were instrumental in helping build and shape early Monroe. She was survived by her children, Molly Wheeler Barnes and Sidney F. Wheeler and her grandchildren and cousins.