Biography - John Fuller
John P. FULLER. Among the well-known and influential citizens of Fillmore Township, Montgomery County, is the gentleman whose name introduces these paragraphs, and who is a successful farmer, using the best methods of fertilizing the soil and improving the land. He came from the Buckeye State, which has contributed so much of population and intelligence to Illinois, and from a parentage marked by strength of character and largeness of nature. Born in Clarke County, Ohio, March 23, 1823, he belongs to one of the prominent families of Virginia, his parents, Moses and Elizabeth (Priteman) Fuller, being natives of that grand old State. They were married in Virginia, and afterward moved directly to Clarke County, Ohio, where they were among the earliest settlers. The father improved three good farms in the county and there remained until 1840, when he thought to better his condition by settling in Montgomery County, Ill.
Moses Fuller located in East Fork Township and there passed a long and useful life, living to be ninety-four years of age. The mother was about eighty years of age when she died. They were the parents of eight children, seven daughters and a son, three of the daughters now living. Our subject was in his eighteenth year when he came to Montgomery County, and nearly all his schooling was received in his native State. He assisted his father in cultivating the farm and remained under the parental roof until twenty-five years of age. Then, on the 13th of July, 1848, he married Miss Mary J. Greer, a native of the Blue Grass State, but who was quite small when she came with her parents to Illinois.
The same year of his marriage our subject settled in a log house, 18x24 feet, on the place where he now resides. Many years has he passed in improving and cultivating this farm, and success has attended his efforts, for he now owns one of the most productive farms in the township. He is thoroughly familiar with all the details of farm life, is progressive and enterprising, and all his operations are conducted in a manner showing .him to be a man of good judgment and sound sense. As the years passed by there clustered around his hearthstone eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. The others are in the order of their births as follows: Sarah E., wife of Dr. Mabry, of Iowa; Rilda C., the widow of William A. Snyder, of Fayette County, Ill.; Clara, Mrs. William Looney, of East Fork Township; Mary S., wife of Price Davis, of East St. Louis; Laura E., at home; William M., Shelby G. and John E., all of whom were born in Montgomery County.
Our subject has one hundred and sixty acres of good land, and in connection with agricultural pursuits he managed a sawmill in East Fork Township for ten years. He has ever been industrious and enterprising and attributes his' success to his industry and perseverance. In his political views, he is attached to the Republican party and is an earnest advocate of its distinctive principles. He has held membership in the Methodist Church for thirty-five years and has filled all the offices in the church, having served as Class-leader and Superintendent of the Sunday-school during almost the entire length of period of his membership. He takes much interest in all worthy enterprises and they are never allowed to drag for want of support on his part.
Extracted 04 Dec 2016 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 265-266.
