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Fuller Earle Callaway, a hard working, hard-driving man, built a fortune on wit, sweat, integrity, and intelligence. He was one of twelve children born in LaGrange, Georgia to Abner Reeves Callaway, a Baptist preacher, and Sara Howard Callaway, a dedicated wife. Sara died when Fuller was eight and from that time Fuller was mostly on his own in his hometown, LaGrange. He farmed some, sold spools of thread after school, and eventually lived with an older brother. At age eighteen, Fuller opened a store with $500 and thus began his triumphant career in retailing. In 1896, LaGrange businessmen encouraged the young man to take over an ailing cotton mill. From there Fuller's ebullient personality, energy and capacity for making wise decisions led to an ever-expanding complex of cotton mills, gins and his involvement in banks, real estate, and insurance. By the 1910s, Fuller's products were known internationally and the schoolboy who once sold spools of thread had become a textile baron.
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