Amos Botsford Fuller (1810 - 1853)

Born 26 Mar 1810 in Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Esther Victoria (Smith) Fuller — married about 8 Mar 1832 in Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York, United States

Descendants

Died 29 Mar 1853 at age 43 in Fort Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, United States

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Biography

Amos became a member of the LDS Church between 1830 - 1848.

Amos Botsford Fuller was born on March 26, 1810 in Stockholm, St. Lawrence County, New York, the fifth child of Luther Fuller and Lorena Mitchell Fuller, who had moved their family there from New Hampshire. ^[1]Stockholm was a woodsy barely inhabited settlement close to the Canada border where Quebec and Ontario connect. By 1820 the population had grown to Eight Hundred and twenty two. Amos grew up on his parents’ farm and one can imagine there was never time for idleness. From the beginning, his life was very busy and was so until the end. I feel that Amos never truly rested one day in his whole life.

Amos married Esther Smith, a cousin of the profit Joseph Smith, who grew up in Stockholm also, on March 8, 1832 in Stockholm, St. Lawrence, New York. ^[2] Besides developing his skills as a farmer, he also became a blacksmith by trade.

Amos and Esther decided to leave this new church in Wisconsin and join those who hoped to travel west with the body of the church that had followed Brigham Young. The family decided that after the harvest of 1847 they would move. Amos and Esther loaded up wagons and moved with their children towards Iowa, hoping to join the saints in Council Bluffs. They began their journey in the early part of November of 1847 knowing that they were facing the prospect of dealing with a rapidly approaching winter. This Fort Des Moines, (not to be confused with the Fort Des Moines built in 1834) was located where the city of Des Moines now stands. It was built in 1843, and at first was christened Fort Raccoon. The next day after their arrival at Fort Des Moines the family headed towards Council Bluffs, Iowa but before they had gone far a violent snowstorm came up and they were obliged to return to the fort for protection. The storm continued for several days, the temperatures dropped below freezing, the roads became impassable, and the family decided to overwinter where they were. They moved their belongings from their wagons into one of the abandoned barracks. Amos’ blacksmith training and experience came to his aid in this unexpected location. He set up his forge and began shoeing horses and ironing wagon wheels for residents of the fort as well as immigrants headed westward. In the meantime church leaders decided to make Fort Des Moines one of the way stations for members of the church traveling west and asked Amos to remain at Des Moines to provide strategic blacksmithing assistance to church members making their trek west. In the spring of 1848 a man with the last name of “Haymond” who was a wagon maker joined Amos and they set up a business which provided a much-needed service for emigrants. Often Amos and Mr. Haymond would take old, broken wagons for partial payment for their services. These they would remake and re-iron and sell to others who would need them The success of the business allowed the family to save up enough funds to purchase a 160 acre farm on what had been part of an unused Indian reservation of the Fox and Sac tribes to Kansas in 1846. The Fullers built a three room house on the farm. Amos created a new blacksmith shop there and continued his smith work. Ultimately, Amos was not able to take his family to the Salt Lake Valley. He was, as were many others, stricken with Typhoid Fever in early 1853 and, after suffering for several weeks, died in Des Moines on 29 March 1853, a few days after his 43rd birthday. He left Esther with seven children ranging in ages from 8 month old Asahel to not-quite 18 year old Jesse.

Children

Jesse Johnson Fuller
Mary Adaline Fuller
Luburn Livonia Fuller
Sophina Alcesta Fuller
Amos Botsford Fuller
Esther Victoria Fuller
Asahel Luther Fuller

Church history records in 1841 show that Amos was a Colonel in the Militia of Lee County, Iowa and a member of the Nauvoo Legion Regiment.

June 18, 1836— Patriarchal Blessing given to Amos B. Fuller by Joseph Smith Sr., W.A. Cowdery Assit. Recorder [Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:96]

January 2, 1837—The Kirtland Safety Society formed a bank with stock by the society. Amos B. Fuller was named as a member of the society.

January 3, 1837—The Seventies met in the loft of the Lord’s house at Kirtland, Ohio [the Kirtland temple, which had been dedicated in March of 1836]. President Zebedee Coltrin made a few brief remarks upon the responsibility of the office of Seventy. He and Pres. Hazen ordained several to the 3rd Quorum of Seventies. Amos B. Fuller was one of those ordained by Zebedee Coltrin.

December 26,1837—The Quorums of Seventies met in the loft of the Kirtland Temple. A. B. Fuller was one of the speakers. ^[3]

With a new ordination as a member of a Quorum of Seventy it is not surprising that within a few months Amos was called to serve as a missionary for the LDS church.

Missions

December 1837–Unknown
Age Called: 27
Ohio
Departed From Home: 26 December 1837
Priesthood office: Seventy

January 1842–Unknown
Age Called: 31
Chicago, Illinois
Departed From Home: 11 January 1842
Mission type: Proselytizing
Priesthood office: Seventy
Called From: Nashville, Lee, Iowa, United States

April 1843–Unknown
Age Called: 33
Vermont
Departed From Home: 10 April 1843
Mission type: Proselytizing
Marital Status: Married
Priesthood office: Seventy
Called From: Nashville, Lee, Iowa, United States^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Early Mormon Missionaries-Amos Botsford Fuller
2. ↑ BYU Nauvoo Community Project.
3. ↑ Journal history of the Church, Historical Department. 26 December 1837
4. ↑ Mormon Missionary Diaries. Amos Botsford Fuller, Volume I, 1837 BYU HAROLD B. LEE LIBRARY, DIGITAL COLLECTIONS.

• The Joseph Smith Papers History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842]

• Hassell Family History

• "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYL-9Q6J?cc=1786457&wc=31SV-PY1%3A1588666013%2C1588666055%2C1588666285 : 24 August 2015), Iowa Territory > Lee > Township 66 > image 3 of 14; citing NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "Utah Deaths and Burials, 1888-1946", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F853-LV3 : 28 January 2020), Amos Fuller in entry for Esthic Fuller, 1856.

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ4N-5G5 : 12 April 2016), Amos B Fuller, Fort Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, United States; citing family 241, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "Utah Deaths and Burials, 1888-1946", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F853-LV3 : 28 January 2020), Amos Fuller in entry for Esthic Fuller, 1856.

• "Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1964", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZG1-R27 : 11 September 2015), Amos B. Fuller in entry for Sophina Fuller Gee, 1930.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #157524115

• SECONDARY SOURCE: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KWV7-5H7