Dayton Fullmer, Indiana Genealogy

1939 Dayton Edward Fullmer, my Dad

Dad changed his family name from Fulmer to Fullmer when he was 18 because he wanted to make it more like the original family name from Germany. The true original name was Vollmer before John Vollmer became a naturalized citizen in Wooster OH and changed from John Vollmer to John Fulmer. John was born in Germany approximately 1805 and traveled from Germany as a stow-away on a ship, according to the family history from my Dad. He did not believe in military service, which was required in Germany. He was a tailor and brought with him his tools, iron, etc, to be able to work when he arrived in America. That iron was still in the family, I think Uncle Truman and Aunt Mary had it at one time.

 

The 4 generations: Taken about 1917, In front:
Dayton Edward Fullmer (my Dad),
Great Grandmother Mary Ann Funk Bechtel.
Grandmother Rachel Bechtel,
in back is Walter Fulmer (my Grandfather).

Dad said his Fulmer ancestors were Pennsylvania Dutch. The Pennsylvania Dutch are not even Dutch at all. They are not from the country that we know today as the Netherlands. Some say that the Pennsylvania Dutch should be more properly known as Pennsylvania German. Deutsch means German and the early English in America corrupted the term Deutsch to Dutch. The term German though had a different meaning before 1800. The Germans were not members of a formal country at that time, but were a loose collection of principalities, free cities, protectorates and confederations. The country that we know today as Germany came into being in 1848 with the unification process starting around 1800. German areas before 1800 included areas that are now part of Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Russia, France and other areas as well as Germany. A more formal definition of Pennsylvania Dutch then are those that came to America from those areas where the German language was spoken before 1800. Those that came after 1800 are usually referred to as Pennsylvania Germans or just German immigrants.

John Fulmer moved from PA to Ohio where he was naturalized in Wooster Ohio. John had a son, Jacob, who was born in Ohio. This was my Dad's grandfather. He and his family traveled from Ohio to Elkhart Indiana, where they settled. Jacob was a farmer in Elkhart. Jacob had a son, Walter. That was my Dad's father. Walter, was born in IN and died at a young age from pneumonia, leaving a wife, Uree, and 4 young children. They all lived in Elkhart. My Dad left school at age 13 to work in a store to help support the family.

Dayton Edward, Treva or Bertha, Ruth, Bertha or Treva, Uree Fulmer

He left Elkhart and moved to Indianapolis after he and my Mom, C. Virginia Rush, married.

 When I was a child, we traveled to Elkhart to visit Dad's family. It was fun to visit Grandmother Fulmer and Aunt Treva and Uncle Orville Parcell, Aunt Bertha (her husband Ward Kilmer, died young) and Aunt Ruth and Uncle Vernon Noel. Aunt Ruth had 3 daughters and they had such a fun house, with a basement and a second floor bedroom for their oldest daughter, Sharon. My memories as a child are eating pears from Grandmother's tree, picking up pinecones at Aunt Treva and Uncle Orville's and playing with Sharon, Joanne and Sandy at Aunt Ruth and Uncle Vernon's.

1920 Census for Elkhart IN, Concord Tnsp
Jacob Fulmer Walter Fulmer

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