2008 Terry Winner - Fitzgerald House

The Fitzgerald House, LLC., owned by Robert and Rebecca Wangner
815 South Broadway Avenue , Tyler , Texas 75701
Phone number 903-597-8869

Open for viewing during Historic Tyler, Inc.'s office hours, generally M-F, 9:30 to 4:30. To confirm whether it is open, call Historic Tyler, Inc., at 903-595-1960.

HISTORY OF THE STRUCTURE:

Henry B. Marsh, a prominent attorney whose family settled in antebellum times, built the house in 1898. Within three years, he built a larger home next-door and sold the house at 815 S. Broadway to his law partner, James Wilford Fitzgerald. Three generations of the Fitzgerald family occupied the home until 1999.

J. W. Fitzgerald was a 28-year-old school teacher in Troup , Texas , when he met his student and future wife, 16-year-old Mary Small. Her father was a newspaper publisher, and Fitzgerald studied law. The couple married nine years later, in 1900, by which time he had served one year as county judge and partnered in the firm of Marsh, McIlwaine, & Fitzgerald. Henry and Sarah Marsh sold the newlyweds their house at 815 S. Broadway on December 31, 1900, for $1,750. Through the course of a long career, Fitzgerald left a wide imprint on Tyler . In 1917, he retired from law to work at Guaranty State Bank, which he helped organize with Judge T. B. Butler, publisher of the Tyler paper. When Butler retired as bank president in 1917, Fitzgerald succeeded him. In 1920, Guaranty and Citizens National Bank merged. Fitzgerald became first vice president of what was then the largest bank in East Texas . He resigned as vice president in 1931, during the oil boom, to return to the law.

Politically, Fitzgerald was a Progressive Democrat, a supporter of Governor Hogg, and headed several improvement campaigns. In 1915, he worked with the Charter Commission to draft a new city charter. In 1919, he chaired the Good Roads Movement that brought Tyler its brick streets. In 1923, he organized the Ten Year Better Farming Campaign to urge crop diversification and self-sufficiency on the county's small farmers. Citizens National Bank even operated a 60-acre demonstration farm to model his 16-point plan for better husbandry. Fitzgerald promoted the Blackstone Hotel that opened downtown in 1922. He and the other 364 local stockholders raised all but $4,000 of its $500,000 capital fund. Fitzgerald also taught Sunday School at Marvin Methodist Church for more than 25 years and was credited with bringing many souls to Jesus, particularly among the city's young professionals. He died of pneumonia in 1938, aged 76.

His wife, Mary Small Fitzgerald, was notable in her own right. Primarily a wife and mother, she also found time for home demonstration activities that complemented her husband's efforts on behalf of the rural poor. For example, she taught farmers' wives how to can their own food using newly available kitchen equipment that could save money on grocery bills. A published poet and children's author, she reveled in all forms of beauty, particularly wildflowers. Mrs. Fitzgerald was one of the first Texans to choose native plants for domestic landscaping. Her yard at 815 South Broadway showcased native plants. She also managed the Treaty Oak Appeal to save a magnificent oak in the Hill Country where Austin was said to have made a treaty with Native Americans. Her efforts generated letters of support from Senators Earle B. Mayfield and Morris Sheppard, the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, and a book of 48 poems about the tree that was sold as a fundraiser. Active in the forerunner of the PTA, the Women's Forum, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas , and her church, Mary Fitzgerald died in 1944 at the age of 69. Her sick nurse stated that she was "the most perfect lady I have ever known."

The second generation to live in the house was Lois Fitzgerald and Charles Decker Whiteman. They met at SMU and married in 1921. He was Kappa Alpha, and she was a Tri-Delt. In World War I, Charles drove ambulances in France and sent many letters and photos home about his experiences. Lois's vicarious love for the excitement of military life and exotic adventures in wartime never left her, though Charles frequently did. Around 1932, he made a career change into the construction industry. Lois and the children moved home to 815 South Broadway, while Charles moved wherever work took him. They stayed married for 54 years, but he was seldom part of the household. In retirement, he came to Tyler permanently and died in 1986, aged 87. Meanwhile, the highlight of Lois's life was World War II. Camp Fannin , an army training camp, was built near Tyler , and Lois became a surrogate mother for many of the enlisted men. The home at 815 South Broadway served as a salon, hospitality center, and a select, quasi-USO for presentable young men who missed their homes and mothers. After their deployment, many corresponded with Lois Whiteman and updated her on their progress. She kept all their letters, and the house became a virtual military archive. Lois got little financial support from her husband, so she took in boarders and worked as secretary, accountant, personnel director, and payroll officer (for little pay) for the Tyler Independent School District superintendent and school board. She worked there 33 years and died in 1988. Lois was also very civic minded. Her parents ingrained in her that not a day should pass without doing something for someone.

The last generation to live in the house was Mary Lois Whiteman, the daughter of Lois and Charles. She stayed there longer than anyone-76 years. A graduate of Tyler Junior College and SMU, she joined the WAVES in 1944, became a teacher in Dallas (but hated the city and the challenges of classroom discipline), and got a Masters from the University of Houston in 1950. Stating that she would rather scrub floors than teach grade school, Mary Lois returned to graduate school at UT to study sociology and psychology, as well as religion courses at Austin Theological Seminary. In other words, she became a career student, then worked for a Mexican mission for Santa Fe Episcopalians. A breakdown led her to move back in with her mother in 1961. Mary Lois worked part-time in her mother's office, then taught third grade and completed graduate studies in library science at Texas Womens University to work at the newly created University of Texas at Tyler , where she was Acquisitions Librarian from 1979 to 1983. Mary Lois lived quietly with her parents until their deaths, became engrossed in genealogical research, and grew continually more reclusive. The archival atmosphere of the house degenerated into bottomless clutter. Unwilling to part with or organize her family's memorabilia, Mary Lois finally grew so overwhelmed that she stopped cleaning at all. The house became almost unlivable, and the yard grew up to the point that people driving by did not even know a house was there. When she and her brother decided it must be sold, in 1999, the realtor withdrew it from the market because its condition seemed hopeless.

RESTORATION:

Robert and Rebecca Wangner bought the house in 1999 with its contents, little realizing how treasured the "trash" they found inside would become. They hired Tim Rose as construction manager for the repair and restoration of the building. Tim's wife Shannon spent four months packing, boxing, and cleaning the home's contents. Kim Groff spent about seven months organizing 40 boxes containing probably 10,000 items, including letters, diaries, vintage magazines, sheet music, toys, games, photographs, and business documents. Groff authored a book about the Fitzgerald House (the source of all the information on our website), published by the Wangners in 2002. The house was also featured on the nationally televised HGTV preservation show, "If Walls Could Talk." The house is now in pristine condition, showcasing many of the Fitzgerald family heirlooms and furnishings. A film showing is offered on-site about the home's condition in 1999, and also details the family's history and the restoration process. Historic Tyler has its offices in the building and holds its board meetings in the family dining room. Hats off to the Wangers and their helpers for a job well done.