John Chauncey Fults

Rewritten from the History of Montcalm, MI Vol.II 1916
Biographical by John W Pasef

John C. Fults, successful farmer and pioneer citizen of Sidney Township, Montcalm, MI was born in Herkimer Co., NY on July 11, 1830 son of Wm. and Mariah Mckoon Fults, natives of NY state, the former of German descent and the latter of Scottish descent. Wm. died shortly after his marriage. Following which, Mariah and only child John, came to MI in 1835 settling in Romeo, Macomb, MI then moving to St. Clair County where Mariah married Benjamin D. Thornton, a union to which 2 daughters were born; Hulda and Esther (Sally) both of whom and the mother are deceased.

NOTE:
Mariah/Mariah Mckoon Fults married B.D. Thornton of Berlin, St Clair Co October 3, 1843 she was 31 and living in Ray TWP, Macomb. Her surname was given as “Collins”

John lived with his mother until the age of 7. Then he became a part of Wm Garris’ home, Garris was a farmer in Macomb County, John resided there until the age of 10. During that time he received education at the common schools in Macomb Co. In about 1840, John went to live with the Sutherland Family for about 5 years, after which he began making his way in the world, working at different places in various lines of activity, chiefly farming. Until a few years later, he purchased 40 acres in Macomb Co, a place where he engaged in farming for a short time. He then moved to St Clair Co. where he lived for several years. During the year 1879, John moved to Montcalm, purchasing 146 acres in Sidney Twp, on the south side of Lake Dickerson, which prior to his arrival was without settlement, and occupied solely by a mill. On his farm he has placed extensive improvements and now lives there as a successful farmer.

On Nov 13, 1850 John C. Fults married Catherine Youngs, who was born in Wayne Co, NY on June 1835 to Harry Youngs and wife.

9 children, 7 living:
• Cornelia w/o Josiah Decker, Douglas TWP, Montcalm
• Mariah w/o John Trumble of Pinnconning, Bay, MI
• Catherine Abyer w/o John Coleman of Stanton, Montcalm
• Ira, deceased
• Annie w/o John Adams of Stanton, Montcalm
• Andrew, lives on the homestead
• Lincoln, died in infancy
• Johnson of McBride, MI h/o Minnie
• Eva Grace w/o Seth Pickett Day TWP

Catherine died March 26, 1915 at 80 yrs. They were devout Seventh Day Adventist’s. Fults has been a lifelong republican, casting his first vote for John C Fremont.

Luther Taylor and his Girls

My 5x great grandfather Luther Taylor was born about 1805 in Connecticut according to US Census records. He married Desire Norton/Newton prior to 1831. Desire died prior to 1860 (probably even before 1850). Sometime before 1860, Luther had relocated along with his three youngest daughters to Kalamazoo, Michigan. He died September 11, 1895 in Watson, Allegan, Michigan.

The Taylors had five known children, all daughters:

• Cynthia Marie Taylor (my 4x great-grandmother) was born May 6, 1831 in New York. She married Levi Decker, the son of Wilhelmus and Mary Decker of Wayne Co, NY in 1850. Cynthia and Levi moved to Michigan in about 1858, settling in Allegan County. She died on the Decker family farm on Big Lake in Watson, Allegan, Michigan of Jaundice coupled with Senility on March 4, 1907. She rests in Hicks Cemetery in Watson.
• Melissa Surviah Taylor was born May 3, 1833 in Fowler, St. Lawrence, New York. She married Eli Charles Spencer in Kalamazoo County, Michigan on June 24, 1855. Together they had three known children and she helped raise his older children from his previous marriage. They moved to Kansas where he passed away around 1877. She eventually moved with her son Allison to Delta County, Colorado where she passed away on April 27, 1919.
• Caroline E. Taylor was born in 1836, also in New York. In 1850, a sixteen year old Caroline was living with her newlywed sister Cynthia in Ontario, Wayne, New York. She married a soldier with the Michigan 1st Regiment of Mechanics and Engineers named William Bates May 1, 1861 in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. They had one daughter; Edith Bates. William died in 1863 in Tennessee. Caroline married James M. Flanagan of the same company and regiment as Bates on December 4, 1865 in Kalamazoo County. James and Caroline moved from Michigan to Kansas where she died sometime before 1902.
• Emaline Louisa Taylor was born February 21, 1842 in NY. She married Irish immigrant John Shaw in Kalamazoo on April 1, 1862. They settled in Texas Township, Kalamazoo, Michigan and had many children. She passed away there on June 1, 1921 of Dropsy and is buried in the Hope Cemetery in Texas Corners.
• Mary Taylor was born November 3, 1845 in NY. She married Charles Campbell in Kalamazoo on May 9, 1863. They lived in Cooper, Kalamazoo, MI with her father Luther in 1870, at that time their family also included their 10 month old son, Charles Jr. and Adeline Fuller and her husband farmhand Jonathan Fuller. Mary died of dropsy of the heart August 30, 1873 and was buried in the West Cooper Cemetery. Campbell then went on to marry Adeline Fuller, who was by then 21 and had been divorced from Jonathan prior to 1872. In 1880, Luther Taylor was still living with the Campbell family, his grandson was by then 11 years old.

Quick Brick Wall Update: Levi Decker’s Parentage

Levi and Cynthia Decker are my 4x great grandparents on my maternal grandmother’s side of the family. According to a family bible (not in my possession) they were married on July 1, 1847 in Puttneyville, Wayne, NY.

Based on their graves located in the Hicks Cemetery, Watson, Allegan, Michigan I knew that Levi was born on February 22, 1818 and died August 27, 1891. Cynthia was born May 6, 1831 and passed away on March 4, 1907.

On the 1850 Census the couple was living in Ontario, Wayne, New York along with a sixteen year old named Caroline Taylor,her closeness in age to Cynthia makes me think that they could be sisters. The couple’s first child, Mary, would be born in October of that year.

By 1860, the family had relocated to Watson, Allegan, Michigan and had grown to include Mary, Francis, Levi Luther (my 3x great grandfather and the first to be born in Michigan), and George. Caroline Taylor is no longer listed as living with the family. The Decker family operated an 80 acre farm on Big Lake in Watson, and grew to include five more children by 1873.

Doing various Google searches on Levi, I found an article ordering all the children of Wilhelmus Decker to see the county judge on March 20, 1854 at 10 o’clock to prove their age and claim their inheritance.

This notice indefinitely ties Levi Decker of Watson, Allegany (Allegan), Michigan to to the late Wilhelmus Decker formerly of Ontario, Wayne, New York – where the couple lived while still newlyweds.

An interesting note is that George W. Cowles of Gallen, Wayne, NY, “special guardian of Nancy Decker”, was a republican member of the New York Congress from March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871 and wrote a book on the history of Wayne County, New York. Why he was the “special guardian” of Nancy I do not know… yet!