Thomas Henry Fuller was born on a farm in the Union District of Crittendon County, Kentucky to William J. Fuller and Mary Catherine Threlkeld on July 20, 1876. This is where the family was located when the 1880 federal census was taken. In the census, his 45 year old farmer father and 31 year old mother Mary had four children living in the home along with Mary’s 68 year old widowed mother Nancy Threlkeld. The children were William H. 5, Thomas H. 3, Ida Bell 2 and Nancy E. aged 3 months old.
There appears to have been a separation of the parents in the 1890’s, unfortunately there are no census records for that period. In 1900, Thomas’s father listed himself as a widow living in Union, Kentucky with two sons and two daughters. On the other hand, Thomas’s mother, claiming to be a widow, was found living in Bainbridge, Illinois along with children Thomas H. 23 and Lizzie H. 13. His mother claimed to have birthed 7 children and 7 were living. Apparently, the parents had separated not only their lives but divided their children as well. Thomas’s father didn’t die until 1907 in Crittendon County, Kentucky.
On January 20, 1902, Thomas 25, a farmer, living in Chamness married Birtie Turnage, a 21 year old Marion girl whose parents were William H. Turnage and Margaret M. Lance. The marriage took place in Bainbridge, Illinois.
By 1907, a Marion street directory found Thomas and Birtie living at 424 S. Court St. with Thomas working as a brick mason.
When the 1910 federal census was taken, Thomas 33 and Bertie 28 had two children in the home, Raymond 6 and (Thomas) Leamon 4. They were living in a home at 1305 W. Chestnut St. Bertie indicated that they had birthed 3 children and 2 were living. They had lost a daughter named Verna who was born in 1902 and died in 1904. Thomas was listed as a brick mason.
In 1913 and again in 1914 Thomas was elected and served as city alderman under Mayor George B. Calhoun. When he filled out his WWI draft card in 1917-18 he was listed as 42 years old with wife Bertie living at 409 S. Hill Street and working as a brick layer at the Slogo Coal Mine in Whiteash. He was described as tall, medium build, with blue eyes and dark hair and had one finger missing.
In the 1920 census, Thomas 43 and Bertie 37 were living in a mortgaged home that they owned at 410 S. Hill Street with three children. They were William R. 15 working as a book keeper in a coal mine, Thomas L. 13 and Paul J. 7. Thomas was working as a bricklayer.
A 1937 Marion street directory located the couple living at 816 W. Chestnut Street and Thomas was listed as a brick mason.
By the 1950 census 73 year old Thomas and his 67 year old wife, Bertie were still living at 816 W. Chestnut St. and Thomas was listed as unable to work. He indicated that his educational level was the 8th grade. A notice in the local newspaper in 1956 noted that Thomas had lost his driver’s license due to failure to pass the exam.
Thomas passed away at Marion Memorial Hospital on May 6, 1958 and was a member of the Second Baptist Church. Burial was in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Marion. He was survived by his wife Bertie, Paul Fuller of Little Rock, Arkansas and Leamon of Detroit, Michigan, 11 grandchildren and three great grandchildren, a niece he reared, Mrs. Lucille Childers of Rt. 1, Marion and a sister Mrs. Al Kirk of Salem, Kentucky.
Bertie Fuller died at the age of 83 in Marion Memorial Hospital on July 19, 1965. She was born in Williamson County on September 1, 1881 and was a member of the Second Baptist Church. Mrs. Fuller left sons Paul of Ft. Worth, Texans and Leamon of Detroit, Michigan. One brother Robert Turnage of Marion, sister, Mrs. Myrtle Wheelwright of San Pedro, California and a niece she reared, Mrs. Lucille Childers of Marion, 11 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
Notes on Children:
William Raymond Fuller, born March 7, 1904, married Hattie Lee, died November 27, 1947 in California. Burial in Rose Hill in Marion.
Thomas Leamon Fuller, born March 20, 1906, married Ethel May Duty in 1927 in Detroit. Died November 6, 1982
Paul James Fuller, born April 19, 1912, married Francis Marion Draper in 1933, died August 25, 1984 in Arkansas.
Verna Fuller, born November 12 1902, died August 28, 1904
(Sources: Federal census records, Marion Street Directories, Williamson County Marriage records, WWI Draft Card records, Ozment Funeral Home records, Marion Semi-Weekly Leader paper, FindaGrave.com. Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 4/12/2024)