One hundred and twenty five years ago on July 4, 1892, Jesse O. Wheeler and his bride, Frances January of Victoria, Texas left on their long journey to Brownsville. They traveled to Hebbronville by rail, from there to Rio Grande City by stage coach and finally on down the Rio Grande river on a little steamboat called the "Bessie."
The Wheelers had come to Brownsville to establish a newspaper, that paper was called "The Daily Herald," what is now called The Brownsville Herald. When the Wheelers came to Brownsville, the town had a population of some 6,000. The center of the town was the Market Square, there were no paved streets, homes of the citizens were lighted with Kerosene burning lamps and few downtown city streets that were lighted were illuminated with similar lamps set on the tops of posts. There was no city water system or sewer system. On arrival here, the Wheelers found no fault with their choice of a home, they were highly pleased with what they saw, enthusiastic over the city's possibilities.
But there was life and energy in the town, Riverboats plied the Rio Grande, trade flourished, agricultural activity was growing. The Wheelers liked it all and quickly set to work in earnest to aid in the growth and development of Brownsville and the Valley, which the young Mrs Wheeler called "The Magic Valley."
They established their newspaper plant in a building at the east end of Elizabeth street near the Miller Hotel. They lived in quarters above the shop. In 1908, Mr Wheeler died, Mrs Wheeler carried on with the paper, devoting her tireless energy to the further growth of Brownsville and the Valley. In 1911, Mrs Wheeler moved the Herald to the corner of 12th and Washington streets. Mrs Wheeler's tireless campaign successfully secured such buildings as the Post office, a tourist hotel called Hotel El Jardin and others.
In her editorial columns she praised the city and Valley when praise was due, and she demanded improvements when improvements were needed, such as new sidewalks, paint jobs, sanitation. She saw Brownsville secure a railroad, she saw Brownsville and the Valley grow up together. In 1923, she retired from the publishing business, spent a year in Europe, then toured the United States. But ever so often she returned to Brownsville where she had lived so many happy years and to the development of which she had given so unsparingly of her time and efforts.
On June 10, 1948, at eighty two years of age, Mrs Wheeler died. Among her last expressed wishes was the desire to spend her final days in the city she had loved so long and worked for so diligently. The Herald of today is all the richer by reason of the Wheelers. Energetic, Progressive and Aggressive on behalf of her objectives, she was definitely a leader during an important period of the city's development. In working for the Brownsville of yesterday, she contributed much to the Brownsville of today and the Brownsville of the future.
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