Historic Tyler on Tour, 2003
FITZGERALD HOUSE, 815 S. Broadway, Restored by: Rob & Becky Wangner
In just one short year since restoration was completed, this 1898 home has gained national attention for the amazing amount of history preserved inside. The home, featured on the TV show "If Walls Could Talk", was purchased by Rob & Becky Wangner in 1999. It had been listed for only a few days when Wangner asked to see it. The realtor had taken it off the market due to its deplorable condition. Overgrown trees and brush almost hid the house from the street. Inside, a century of living had saturated the home and obscured much of the rich architecture. Some rooms were closed off because debris was too deep to open the doors. But the Wangners saw the potential. After five month of sorting, boxing and bagging, three generations of a family were revealed.
Built in 1898 by Henry B. Marsh, the house was sold to his law partner, Judge J. W. Fitzgerald and his wife Mary Small Fitzgerald, in 1900. Judge Fitzgerald, who lived in the house from 1901 until his death in 1938, played a vital role in Tyler's early development. Besides sitting as a distinguished judge for many years, he was also involved in banking, the progressive farm movement and many community causes. Several of the Judge's early handwritten court case files were found in the home, along with notes and newspaper clippings on his farm work, as well as his original office furniture, gavel and library.
Mary Small Fitzgerald was a nationally recognized poet and author, whose handwritten poems were found in the home as well as her published work. Like her husband, she was very active in local and state affairs. She loved gardening and introduced the bluebonnet and Alabama crabapple tree to East Texas. She was a charter member of the Fort Reagan Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and led the fight to save the historic Treaty Oak in Austin. The Fitzgeralds had three children, two sons, Richard and James W. Jr. and a daughter, Lois.
Lois Fitzgerald at age sixteen was valedictorian of her graduation class at Tyler High School. Then to the delight of her parents, she attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas. There she met her future husband, Charles Whiteman. Charles was a veteran of WWI, where he served with an ambulance Company from June 1918 until 1919. Journals that Charles kept overseas as well as letters he had written home were found in the house.
Lois and Charles were married in 1921. They moved to Dallas and had two children, Mary Lois Whiteman and Charles D. Whiteman, Jr. They lived in Dallas until 1932 when Lois moved home with her parents and Charles began to travel to find work.
During WWII the house on Broadway was referred to as an unofficial USO house. Lois was always involved with helping people and she became the substitute mom for a group of young soldiers from Camp Fannin. There were over 1000 letters from more than 100 servicemen and women with whom Lois corresponded. The letters, which were filed alphabetically, were often addressed to Dear Mom or Dear Mrs. W.
After serving in the WAVES during WWII, the Whiteman's daughter Mary Lois pursued an education and worked several years as a teacher. Due to ill health she returned to Tyler in 1961. She was initially involved in several local organizations, but after her parents died, she seldom left the house. In 1999 she and Charlie decided it was time to sell the house. Their decision to sell it with contents intact led to the discovery of the Fitzgerald legacy and it's preservation for the citizen's of Tyler.
All three generations of the Fitzgerald family were avid photographers and the thousands of photos left behind in the home tell the story of the history of Tyler through their own eyes.
