FULTON, Senator Charles Jacobs 1860 - 1937

FULTON, MINEAR, STICHTER, CRAIL, WELTY, LEGGETT, MORRISSEY, OLVIER, CUNNINGHAM

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/24/2022 at 22:56:53

"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Monday, December 6, 1937
Front Page, Column 4

SENATOR FULTON SUFFERS STROKES

C. J. FULTON suffered two light strokes this morning, the first at 9:00 and the second at 11:30. His condition is reported as quite serious.

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"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Tuesday, December 7, 1937
Front Page, Columns 2 and 3, and
Page FIVE, Column 4

Senator Charles J. FULTON, Prominent Citizen in Iowa, Succumbs, Following Stroke
Funeral Services On Thursday Afternoon At Fulton Residence

Hon. Charles J. FULTON, 77, well known Iowa legislator and public spirited citizen of Fairfield, died last evening at his home, 805 South Main street. Death came at 5:30 p.m., following a stroke of paralysis suffered at 9:00 a.m. He had also suffered a previous stroke last Friday and he had not been in the best of health for the last few years.

Funeral services will be conducted from the FULTON family residence at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday and will be in charge of Dr. M. A. Gable, pastor of the First Methodist church and President Clarence W. Greene, of Parsons college. Burial will be in Evergreen cemetery.

Senator FULTON was one of Fairfield's most widely known residents, he having served in the legislature for about 12 years. After several terms as mayor of Fairfield he was elected to the legislature, serving in the lower house until he was elected as State Senator for the Jefferson-Van Buren district. As senator he served through the thirty-ninth, fortieth, forty-first and forty-second General assemblies. He was an able legislator, carefully scrutinizing all askings of public funds to see that public business was carried on in as efficient a manner as is necessary with private interests.

Among the elder alumni of Parsons college few were so well known as Senator FULTON, son of a pioneer Jefferson county family who was a lifelong resident here. Here too, were most of his business and other interests.

As a farm boy he attended the country schools and in 1877, when he was 17, he entered Parsons college, from which he was graduated with the class of 1883.

He returned to farming after his graduation, remaining until 1891, when he purchased an interest in the Louden Machinery company and became secretary treasurer of that corporation. Because of ill-health he retired from active connection with the Louden company in 1920. Later he was associated with P. S. Junkin and others in the Fairfield Ledger company, but from this he also retired about seven years ago.

Mr. FULTON always was interested in educational matters. He served on city and school boards and was one of the ablest and most faithful of the trustees of Parsons college through many years. For a long period, until his death he had served as secretary of the Board of Trustees of the college.

From 1892 until 1930 he was secretary of the Fairfield Public Library board giving unstintingly of his time and energy to that institution. In 1930 he was advanced to the office of the president of the board, which position he still held at the time of his death.

During the World War, when it was desired to form the Jefferson County Exemption board, he was one of the three who accepted that very exacting task, simply as a matter of public duty. Mr. FULTON served with Wm. L. Long and Dr. R. C. Sayers, when Jefferson county's quotas were being filled.

From the very beginning of the Fairfield Chautauqua association Mr. FULTON was a generous supporter of that organization. When it was formed, in 1904 and so long as his health permitted he served as a director, and for most of the time was its president. He was a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Elks.

Senator FULTON was a member of the Methodist church as were his parents and grandparents.

The son of Joseph Warren and Sarah Elizabeth MINEAR FULTON, he was born on the farm January 27, 1860. He was married to Miss Herminie H. STICHTER of Washington, Iowa, on December 1 , 1898. She died in June 1926 (sic - June 10, 1925). Their children are Charles C. of St. Paul, Minn.; Mrs. Catherine FULTON CRAIL, LaCross (sic - La Crosse), Wis; and Mrs. J. C. WELTY, Beloit, Wis. In Nov. 24, 1926 he married Mrs. Beatrice C. LEGGETT, who survives him. Only last month Mr. and Mrs. FULTON observed in quiet manner the happy eleventh anniversary of their wedding.

Besides his wife and children, Senator FULTON is survived by one brother, Joseph W. FULTON, Fairfield and one sister, Mrs. John J. MORRISSEY, of Ottumwa. There are six grandchildren, Charles L., Eugene and Elizabeth being the children of Charles FULTON and Susan, Catherine and Jane the daughters of Mrs. Catherine F. CRAIL.

The body will remain at the Murray Funeral Home until Thursday.

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"The Fairfield (Ia.) Daily Ledger"
Wednesday, December 8, 1937
Page EIGHT, Column 4

Around Town
By The Inquiring Reporter

... Mrs. Catherine CRAIL of LaCross (sic), Wis., arrived last evening called here by the death of her father C. J. FULTON. Mrs. CRAIL's brother Charles FULTON, Mrs. FULTON and three children of St. Paul Minn., are expected to arrive today. ...

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"The Fairfield (Ia.) Daily Ledger"
Thursday, December 9, 1937
Page FOUR, Columns 3, 4, 5, and 6

CHARLES J. FULTON, SCHOLAR AND PUBLIC SPIRITED CITIZEN -- AN APPRECIATION
By Paul S. Junkin

The Fairfield Ledger is pleased to have this opportunity to present, in the very well-chosen words of an old friend and associate, this fitting tribute to the late C. J. FULTON.--Editor.

A lifetime of usefulness and honorable public and private service, of devotion to high ideals and principles, of broad human sympathies, of strict integrity, came to an end Monday evening with the death of Charles J. FULTON.

Fortunate is the community, the state, the nation, that can produce such men.

To write a tribute to the memory of Mr. FULTON is no easy task because his activities were so varied, his helpfulness to his fellow man so constant, his sincerity and uprightness so manifest and so unquestioned that eulogy cannot do justice either to his charactor or his achievements. In none of the relations of life, as husband and father, as friend and neighbor, as a citizen upon whom devolved many duties and responsibilities, did he fail to measure up to very high standards, and in many of them he was surpassingly great.

A prodigious reader of the best books in science, in philosophy, in fiction, with a retentive memory, his mind was a vast storehouse of knowledge. And the quality of his mind was such that there was nothing superficial about this knowledge. He was on friendly terms with the great philosophers and scientists of the ancient world and with their successors through the ages. Good literature was his daily companion and without resenting the modern trend of literature he loved and clung to the great writers of past years whom many in these days are inclined to neglect.

While his reading covered many fields he was especially interested in history. He was well informed on all phases of the world's history, and his information with reference to his own country, from the colonial days to the present, was particularly full and accurate. He was the author of the History of Jefferson County and was recognized as the best informed man in the county on the history of the county and its early families. Recognitoin (sic) of his tinguished contributor to its pub- of Iowa was statewide (sic). He was a life member of the State Historical Society of Iowa and was a distinguished contributor to its publications. As a writer his productions were clear and concise, with an exceptionally nice sense of the use of the right word in the right place. He was also a member of the Iowa Press and Authors Club.

Quiet and unobtrusive, only those who knew him well, fully appreciated his really splendid mental equipment and the use to which he put it.

In the small groups whose meetings probably gave him his keenest enjoyment he was a listener rather than a talker, content to sit back and let others talk when his own contributions would have been more pointed and interesting but when he did talk he always said something worth listening to. To the day of his death he was a seeker after knowlege and it is a great comfort and satisfaction to his friends and to those whose ties were even closer that until the last his mind was clear and his zest and interest did not flag.

He loved the earth and to work in it and the acres which constituted his home are a lovely place because of this. In this and in other things he had the pride of workmanship in a high degree and so his flowers and his plants and his fruits and his vegetables were keen joy to him, a joy which he shared with hundred of friends during the time when thousands of blooms made the place beautiful.

In his career as a public man, as mayor and representative and state senator, he reflected honor upon his constituents. If he made mistakes, as men do make mistakes, they have been forgotten in the multitude of good things that he fostered and furthered, and his vote was always on the side of decency and honesty and fair dealing.

He was an excellent business man and shared with one or two others the credit for the success of one of Fairfield's most important industries. As a member of the board of trustees of Parsons College, as member of the board of trustee of the Fairfield Public Library and as its president he served faithfully and with ability. The life of a good man hos (sic) been closed, but pleasant memories of his work and his character and his achievements will not perish.

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"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Friday, December 10, 1937
Front Page, Column 5, and
Page 3, Columns 3, 4, 5, and 6

DR. C. W. GREENE PAYS TRIBUTE TO C. J. FULTON
Funeral Services For Well Known Citizen Were Held Thursday

Life-long friends swelled the large crowd which attended the funeral services held for the Hon. C. J. FULTON, in the FULTON home at 805 S. Main, at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon.

Dr. M. A. Gable officiated, and the address was given by Dr. C. W. Greene, president of Parsons College.

Carl G. Melander sang two selections, "Crossing the Bar," and "Abide With Me," and James P. Moorehead opened the service with a piano number.

Dr. Greene, in his address said in part:

We have assembled today to honor the memory of our good neighbor and valued friend, of a loyal husband and father, Charles J. FULTON. Not only immediate members of the family but also a host of friends sense the loss incident upon the suspension of intimate fellowship with him who has been released from the bonds that bind us to the physical life. Yet our sorrow is assuaged by our realization that his life extended beyond the allotted three score years and ten. It brings quiet comfort, also, to the members of his family and to his close friends to sense the fact that his life and activities contributed richly to the finer things in the life of our community and state.

We shall dwell but briefly upon the specific events related to the life of him whom most of us have come to know familiarly as Senator FULTON.

On occasions like this the material things of life fade into the background. The things that contribute to the deeper things of the spirit demand our consideration.

Charles J. FULTON was motivated from his early years to the close of his life here by strong intellectual interests. At the age of 17 years, he entered Parsons College, in 1877, the third year of its operation. He graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1883 thus, becoming a member of the third class to graduate from that institution. His creative literary interests and accomplishments were recognized by the action of the Parsons College faculty and Board of Trustees in conferring upon him the Master of Arts degree in 1886 and the degree of Doctor of Literature in 1917. When a chapter of the National honorary scholastic society, Phi Kappa Phi, was organized in Parsons College, and a small group of alumni became eligible for membership, Senator FULTON was a member of the first group included in its membership.

The chapter on "Higher Education in Iowa Prior to 1875," incorporated in the book "Fifty Years of Parsons College," was written by Senator FULTON. When the book appeared in 1925 a critic observed that Senator FULTON's knowledge of the facts of Iowa history was second to that of no one. Those of us who have discussed Iowa history with Senator FULTON know that he not only possessed an intimate knowledge of historical facts but a rare ability to relate and interpret those facts.

He took a very sympathetic and active interest in the growth and development of his alma mater, Parsons College. For a period of twenty-eight years he served on its Board of Trustees and during the last twenty-two years of that period as its secretary.

Senator FULTON took an active interest in the work and development of the Iowa Historical Society. He made significant contributions to it as well as to the written history of Jefferson County.

He assisted in the organization and development of the Fairfield Chautauqua Association and served as a director, and for a period as president of that organization. From 1892 to 1930 he gave generous service to the Fairfield Public Library Board as its secretary, and following that period served as president of the Board until his decease. He read widely and he possessed a knowledge of books and literature far beyond that of the large majority of educated readers.

Senator FULTON also made a worthy contribution to the civic interests of Fairfield and of the State of Iowa. He served several terms as mayor of our city. For approximately twelve years he served in the State Legislature, eight years of which service was given in the State Senate representing Jefferson and Van Buren counties. In these civic positions he exercised large influence and made a highly commendable record of service.

Along with other varied interests Senator FULTON possessed a deep interest in God's nature world. He understood the import of the poet's meaning when he said, "To him who in the love of nature holds communion with her visible forms she speaks a various language; for his gayer hours she has a voice of gladness and a smile, and she glides into his darker musings with a mild and healing sympathy that steals away their sharpness ere he is aware." How often when the currents of life are running adversely may we find solace through seeing God's creative hand in His nature world!

It has not been our purpose to dwell upon Mr. FULTON's business activities. Rather has it been our purpose to mention those interests, attitudes and activities that develop and nurture the cultural sides of life. The factors that mold the intellectual life and the spiritual side of the life of men and of society greatly outweigh in value the material things of life. Even a partial study reveals that Senator FULTON's life was richly blessed with the finer qualities that are worthy of being stressed.

What a consolation to his loved ones it must be that Senator FULTON came up to the end of his physical life with intellectual and spiritual faculties responsive to the richer cultural interests of life. The memory of a fellowship so enriched must abide with them through the years as a treasured inheritance.

Someone has said that no life can be pure in its purpose and strong it its strife (sic) and all life not be made purer and stronger thereby. This is the thought with which we shall conclude this brief review of the contributions of the life of him in whose memory we have gathered in this home this afternoon. The effect of his cultural interests, his altruistic activities, his genial fellowships will abide in his home relationships and in the groups with which he mingled. His life has become a part of and has enriched the life of our community and the life of our state.

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All of Mr. FULTON's children and three grandchildren were able to attend the funeral. Present were Dr. and Mrs. Carl WELTY of Beloit, Wis., Mr. and Mrs. Charles FULTON and their three children of St. Paul, Minn., and Mrs. Catherine CRAIL of LaCrosse, Wis. Also present was Mrs. FULTON's daughter, Dr. Elizabeth LEGGETT of Kent, Ohio.

The honorary attendants were Dr. J. Fred Clarke; Col. W. G. Heaton; W. E. Johnson; R. B. Louden; Dr. R. M. McKenzie; J. W. Dole; Ellsworth Turney, and Prof. E. S. Schall. Active casket attendants were P. S. Junkin, J. G. Barwise; C. H. Heer; Dr. J. Fred Hinkhouse; Dr. E. C. Bock and A. G. Jordan.

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"The Fairfield (Ia.) Daily Ledger"
Friday, December 10, 1937
Page FIVE, Columns 1 and 2

... --Dr. Elizabeth LEGGETT of Kent, Ohio, who was in Fairfield for the funeral of C. J. FULTON, will return to her home tomorrow accompanied by her mother, Mrs. C. J. FULTON. ...

... Prof. and Mrs. Carl WELTY who were here to attend the funeral services of Mrs. WELTY's father C. J. FULTON returned this morning by motor to their home in Beloit, Wis. They were accompanied by Mrs. WELTY's sister Mrs. Catherine CRAIL of LaCross (sic), Wis. Mrs. WELTY's brother Charles FULTON, Mrs. FULTON and three children left for their home in St. Paul, Minn, on Thursday afternoon.

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Mrs. Eugene McCoid of Mount Pleasant attended the funeral services of C. J. FULTON on Thursday afternoon.

(same publication and page, but Column 3 --)

Wife Beneficiary Of FULTON Estate

Beatrice C. FULTON, wife of the late Senator C. J. FULTON, is the lone beneficiary according to a will placed on file in the district clerk's office this morning.

The will stated that all properties of every kind and character go to the beneficiary named above. Mrs. FULTON was also designated as executrix of the document.

The testament was drawn-up on Sept. 7, 1927.

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"The Fairfield (Ia.) Daily Ledger"
Monday, December 13, 1937
Page FOUR, Columns 3 and 4

... Mr. and Mrs. Fred OLIVER attended the funeral services of Mrs. OLIVER's uncle, Sen. C. J. FULTON at Fairfield on Thursday afternoon. ...

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in Lot 2nd.062 with his first wife Hermine STICHTER FULTON. Second wife Beatrice CUNNINGHAM LEGGETT FULTON, who was first married to Charles D. LEGGETT, is buried with her first husband also in Evergreen Cemetery.

Jefferson Obituaries maintained by Joey Stark.
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