CAPT ALBERT G. FULTON

CAPT. A. G. FULTON, SAILED FIRST BOAT HERE, DIES, AGED 82
PIONEER VESSELMAN AND EARLY DAY FARMER OF COUNTY PASSES FROM EARTH AT HOME
WEST OF CITY SUNDAY MORNING.
LOCATED ON FARM AT RAPIDS IN EARLY 60S.
A long and useful life came to a close at midnight Saturday when Capt. Albert G.
Fulton, one of the best known pioneers of Manitowoc county, quietly passed on his
way to another world. Capt. Fulton’s death occurred at his farm home west of the
city, his demise being due to an illness of several months which his advanced age
made it impossible for him to combat.
Capt. Fulton was in his eighty-second year, having been born February 23, 1832,
and since 1865 he had been a continuous resident of Manitowoc county, though he
had made his home here previous to that time as well. Capt. Fulton was born in
St. Clair Co., Michigan.
Capt. Fulton was a pioneer vesselman of the lakes and for twenty years or more
engaged in sailing, retiring in 1862 when he engaged in farming here. Capt. Fulton
enjoyed the distinction of having sailed the first schooner built in Manitowoc, the
Citizen, and he was in charge of a number of other boats during his lake career
which he started at the age of 10 years.
The early years in the life of Capt. Fulton were distinguished by the hardships and
privations which invariably devolved upon the pioneers of any country. He received
no educational advantages in youth, never having attended schools in his life, but
being an ambitious youth, persistent, he eventually learned to read and acquired the
key to the door of knowledge and became a well informed man. During his entire life
Capt. Fulton devoted much time to reading and kept pace with subjects of current
interest, the closing days of his life being brightened by his interests in affairs
of the nation.
At the age of ten years, Capt. Fulton assumed the duties of manhood by becoming
selfsupporting and at that age engaged as assistant to a cook on a small lake vessel.
At the age of 14 he was able to go before the mast and from that time performed a
sailor’s duty and four years later became mate. In 1852, at the age of 20, he was
made master of the schooner Defiance, a lumber schooner, which plied between this
city and Chicago. On one of the trips of the host during a severe northeastern gale,
the boat was capsized and Capt. Fulton and his crew were at the mercy of the waves
for four days before their signals of distress brought them relief. Capt. Fulton
often told of this experience which was one of the worst which he ever passed through
in his years on the lakes. Years later Capt. Fulton was again in danger as a passenger
of North Uba, when the boat capsized off Racine, but escaped with his life.
Capt. Fulton was master of the first schooner ever built in Manitowoc, “The Citizen,”
built by the late P. P. Smith, and which Capt. Fulton sailed for years. The boat was
two-master. In twenty years on the lakes Capt. Fulton boasted of a record of never
having lost a man.
In 1862 Capt. Fulton left the lakes and established a wood and coal yard at Chicago
which he conducted for three years, at the expiration of which period he returned to
Manitowoc and made his home here for a year, at which time he purchased the farm near
Silver Lake where he made his home to the time of his death. This farm had never been
under cultivation and was entirely without improvements when it came into his
possession, but industry and energy, with perseverance brought the farm into one of
the well tilled properties of the county and for thirty-seven years Capt. Fulton
continued in management of the farm, retiring in 1899, though he continued his
residence on the property up to his death.
Capt. Fulton was married in 1855 to Elizabeth Johnson, who preceded him in death twenty
years ago. Seven children survive, being Mrs. Philip Smith, who resided with her husband
and father on the old homestead; Mrs. L. J. Anderson, Mrs. Fred Christiansen, this city;
Mrs. L. J. Bodwin, of Owen, Wis.; Mrs. Adelbert Schmidt of Wausau; Miss Emmelie Fulton,
this city, and Charles Fulton of Buffalo, N.W. With exception of the son, Charles, all
of the children were with Capt. Fulton when death came to him.
Few men of the county were more widely or favorably known than Capt. Fulton, and the
announcement of his death will bring a keen pang of remorse to many who knew him and
to whom his sturdy upright character was best known.
One of the last public events in which Capt. Fulton evinced interest was the recent
reorganization here of a camp of the Sons of Veterans. He was much interested in the
movement and gave it his hearty support and had he been able to be present he would
have attended the organization meeting.
Funeral services for Capt. Fulton will be held from the home of his daughter, Mrs. L. J.
Anderson, North Thirteenth street, this city, tomorrow afternoon at 2o’clock and will
be conducted by Rev. Axtell of the Presbyterian church. Interment will be at Evergreen.
Manitowoc Daily Herald, November 17, 1913 P. 1
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[bur. 11-18-1913/cause: niemina]
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Friday night "there was a sound of revelry" at Capt. Fulton's farm, near the
shores of Silver Lake. It was all on account of the new granary, which the
captain has recently built. Several couples from the city were in attendance
on the festivities, and among them as a matter of course, was a reporter of
the Times. The Wells boys and Louis Pleuss funished the music, to the strains
of which about thirty couples moved in the mazes of the waltz. It was an
enjoyable affair throughout, and fully sustained the captain's reputation as
a genial host.
Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, July 25, 1882 P.1