Notes for: James Madison FULLER
James Madison Fuller, son of Ambrose Fuller Jr. and Alice Woodard Fuller, was born at Western, Linn Co., Iowa on April 23, 1855, a year after Ambrose moved to Iowa from Elmira, IL. Their farm was 160 acres in SW ¼ of Section 22, T82N, R7W, College Township, Linn Co., Iowa about 9 miles north of Western and a half-mile west. The location is now known as 400 & 716 Wright Brother Blvd E., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1873, at 18 years old, Jim moved to Marshalltown, Iowa, where he farmed for 4 years. There in Marshalltown, Iowa on July 17, 1877, he meet and married Helen Pamela Harris, born July 17, 1857. Helen was from Lafayette, now Albion, Iowa in Marshall Co., 5 miles northwest from Marshalltown. I have Helen "Hettie" Pamela Fuller's personal diary for the year 1877. She tells of them getting married and her mother dying that year. She didn't like being alone when Jim went to Greene County looking for a farm. It was a hard year for her. Her church and family gave her great comfort. Jim found a farm at Jefferson, Greene County, Iowa, and 140 miles farther west. In Hettie's diary, she talks of traveling through Boone, Iowa on the way and arriving at their new home in Jefferson on October 16, 1877. They lived for time at Jefferson, and later moved to Marshall County where they resided until moving to Almyra, Arkansas in 1895 with their family including Ami Warner (A.W.) Fuller at the age of 8. They found prairie lands near Stuttgart, which was good for farming. Later they would farm rice at Almyra. Jim had confessed Jesus as his savior in March 1877, according to Hettie's diary of that year, and recommitted himself in the early years in Arkansas and was a Charter member of First Baptist Church in Almyra. In 1910, they moved back to Elmira to care for Jim's dad, Ambrose Jr. In 1921, Hettie died and was buried in Almyra, Ar. Their son Edwin Adelbert was the first person buried in Almyra Cemetery. Jim spent his last 19 years sharing time living with his son Leonard in Elmira, IL. and A.W. Fuller in Alymra, Ar, but he said he considered Alymra his home where his son A.W. Fuller lived.
Jim continued the families past history of moving south by moving 625 miles to Almyra, Arkansa. The Fuller family had now moved over 2,000 miles from Plymouth, MA.