My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Abram Fulkerson. Among the prominent citizens of Miller County, and among those deserving special recognition for their long residence in the county, stands the name of the above-mentioned gentleman, who was born in Washington County, Va., in 1819, but was reared in Missouri. He is the seventh in a family of eight children born to Richard and Susannah (Livingston) Fulkerson, natives of Virginia. The father was of Dutch descent, and the name Fulkerson was originally Vulker. He came to Missouri in 1823, settling in Boone County, engaged in farming, and here remained for a number of years. He died in 1852 and his wife in 1824. She was of English descent, and her grandfather, Robert Livingston, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Abram Fulkerson was reared on the farm, and followed agricultural pursuits until fifteen years of age, or until 1836, when he came to Jefferson City, and was here engaged in clerking, and also acted as deputy postmaster. He remained in the former position until 1841, and in 1843 was appointed postmaster of Jefferson City, which position he filled until 1849. He was a Free Soil man; was very active in politics, and was elected to the Legislature from Cole County, Mo., in 1850. He was State auditor from 1851 to 1852, was quartermaster-general of State four years under Gov. King, and has always been an ardent Democrat in his political views. In 1849, during the Benton and anti-Benton movement, Mr. Fulkerson was a Benton man, and made a trade that elected their man, John G. Miller, in 1852, for Congress and defeated himself for the Assembly. In 1861 Mr. Fulkerson was enrolling clerk, and was a member of the Home Guards. He was a correspondent for the St. Louis Union, and gave graphic accounts of trouble of 1860 and 1861. Later he enlisted in the six-months Missouri service; was commissioned first lieutenant of the Third Arkansas Colored, was provost-marshal and pass-master under Gen. Grant at Jefferson City in 1861 and 1862, and was also under Jefferson C. Davis until June of 1862. During that year he was also connected with the scouts until he received his commission, when he was sent out recruiting, and organized the Third Arkansas Colored, the First Iowa Colored and two or three companies of the First Missouri Colored. Col. Fulkerson was then ordered to join his regiment at Helena, Ark., which he did in October, 1863, and was assigned to Company G of the Third Arkansas, of which he was first lieutenant by appointment, also quartermaster of his regiment. Col. Fulkerson was with his regiment until the close of the war; was engaged in several skirmishes, and was in the battle of Wallace’s Ferry. He took 7,000 rounds of ammunition July 26, 1864, had a severe battle near Helena, and at the close of the war, or May 3, 1865, he resigned his commission. Since then he has suffered severely with chronic diarrhea, rheumatism and heart troubles. He remained in Jefferson City engaged in the pension, business until 1875, when he removed to Tuscumbia, Miller County, and was proprietor of the Vidette for three years. He then started the Osage Valley Banner and continued that for three years, when he sold out and started the Banner Cresset. In 1881 he took his compass and surveyed the ground for the present site of Aurora Springs, named the place, also the streets, and has resided here since March 10, 1887. He was county surveyor for eight years in Cole County, having studied surveying in Jefferson City; was admitted to the bar in 1842, and has practiced law, off and on, since that time. In December, 1842, he married Miss Flora Haynes, a daughter of Dr. Haynes. She died in May, 1859. Eight children were the result of this union, and are named as follows: Richard H., was in the service, and died at Fort Leonard, Kas., in 1867; Charles B., resided in Tuscumbia; Frank G. is married, and is the publisher of the Jefferson City Times; Abram, married; James L., married, and living in Denver, Colo.; John F., married, and living in Jefferson City; Hester, died in 1887, and Emma, died in 1857. Col. Fulkerson was married in Cole County to Miss Frances Wilson, and was married in Tuscumbia to Miss Maria Vanatta in 1877. She died in 1881, and the Colonel then married Mrs. Hannah Jane Hagan, at Jefferson City, in 1887. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., Jefferson Lodge No. 43, and is also a Royal Arch Mason, belonging to Chapter No. 11, and is a member of Commandery No. 1 at St. Louis. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his wife is a member of the Baptist Church. He is now prosecuting attorney for Aurora Springs.