Wednesday, November 4, 1998

Auditorium honors popular native son By CAROLYN CARY Contributing Writer The F. A. Sams Auditorium, built in 1963, is named for an illustrious native Fayette Countian, Ferrol Aubrey Sams Sr. He was born in 1892 in the house in which his mother had also been born and where three of his four children were born. It is currently the residence of a grandson, Dr. Jim Sams. "Mr. Ferrol" was the grandson of Lt. William J. Sams, who lost his life during the War Between The States in 1862. He, himself, entered World War I in 1917, suffered severe wounds in 1918, and was transferred from the fighting in France and Belgium to a hospital in London. He was discharged in 1919 as a captain. Prior to his military service, he had graduated from Mercer University (1914) and lettered there in baseball, football and basketball. In 1977, he was inducted into the Mercer University Athletic Hall of Fame, only the eighth graduate at that time to be so honored. He was elected Fayette County School Superintendent in 1924, a position he held for the next 38 years. Also that same year, he entered Emory Law School. Sams married the former Mildred Matthews in 1917 and they were the parents of four children: Jimmy Kate (Cole), Dr. Ferrol Jr. ("Sambo"), Janice (Cole) and Sara (Goza). From 1946 to 1948 he served in the Georgia State Senate and during this time also served as the first State Director for Veterans Education in Georgia. He was a charter member of the Fayette County Kiwanis Club, which organized in 1951. In 1972 Sams decided to run for Fayette County commissioner. Though 80 years of age at the time, he prided himself on knocking on every door in the county to introduce himself. He served for four years. "Mr. Ferrol" died in 1979. Back to the Top of the PageBack to the Weekend Home Page