Who Lived Here?

Who Lived Here?. . This house, the Fambro / Arthur home, takes its name from two of its owners. One was a judge, the other was a former slave. , The Fambro Family, A. Judge W. W. Fambro built this house in the early 1840s. He may have created his home by moving two older structures onto this lot where he merged them into one larger home., B. Elizabeth Jacob was 28 when she married the 45 year old Fambro in 1850. They were childless, but their house did not remain empty. The couple provided room and board for students and teachers from the nearby academy., C. Mary Snyder Johnson lost her birth parents in a steamboat accident. Frank Johnson, the captain of that boat, saved baby Mary and adopted her, but the Fambros raised Mary in this house. Ironically, another boating accident claimed Mary's husband and son in 1881., The Arthur Family, D. Ezekiel Arthur was born into slavery. After Emancipation, he traveled to several different states to find his mother and sisters who had been "sold away." They returned to Cahawba, and he purchased this house in 1894. The Arthur family lived in this home for 100 years. , E. Mattie Arthur was the daughter-in-law of Ezekiel. She lived in this house until her death in 1995. The copper bucket is a family heirloom from Cahawba's early days.