FULKES FAMILY

Over the years the name Fulkes has been spelled in a variety of different ways. The different spellings that I have found include Folks, Foulks, Foulkes, Foulks, Fowlkes, Fowlks, Fulk, Fulke and Fulkes. Our family appears to have used the later spelling most often up to the present day. Spelling in the 19^th Century and earlier was done phonetically because most people were illiterate anyway. When you combine the illiteracy factor along with the different pronunciations, people’s hearing abilities (or lack thereof) and the general apathy towards correct spelling, it is no wonder that we find a variety of spellings for our surnames. Nevertheless, I believe it is very probable that some of the above variations are really separate families and not related to ours at all. However, it is only with a lot more research and luck that we will ever be able to differentiate among them.

Our earliest known and documented Fulkes ancestor was Asa. He was born in Virginia between 1780 and 1790. Asa’s parentage and possible siblings have not yet been conclusively identified; however, his father’s name may have been Daniel. Reverend Richard Dabbs married Asa to Rhoda Bottom in Charlotte County, Virginia on 2 March 1809. Rhoda was the daughter of a Revolutionary War veteran by the name of Miles Bottom. She was born between 1790 and 1800 in Virginia. Asa and Rhoda had at least five children, three girls and two boys.

Asa was a fairly well to do tobacco planter. He died on or about 1 January 1841 in Charlotte County. Asa would have been between 51 and 61 years of age. He was survived by his wife, Rhoda and five children: Eliza (Fulkes) Hennings, Nancy B., Rebecca (Fulkes) Clark, Albert Alling Fulkes and John D. "Jack" Fulkes. Two of Asa’s daughters were married at this time and had given Asa and Rhoda at least eight grandchildren. Although his grave has not been found, it is assumed that Asa was buried on or near his plantation.

Upon his death, Asa’s estate was valued at $8,417. Asa named his two sons, Albert and Jack as his co-executors. Albert and Jack were to run the plantation, pay their father’s debts and support their mother and any siblings still living at home until their mother’s death at which time they would divide up the estate. Rhoda received one-third of Asa’s estate outright as required by law at the time. After Rhoda’s death, Albert and Jack would inherit the four hundred-acre plantation and each of their girls would receive $300 in cash. Any excess over and above these specific bequests were to be equally divided among the Fulkes children. Asa’s will was presented in court for probate on 5 April 1841.

Although we do not know Rhoda’s exact date of death, she probably died between 1843 and 1850 (probably closer to 1850). By the time that the 1850 census was taken, the Fulkes children and their families had relocated to Carroll County, Tennessee. We do not know if Rhoda died in Virginia or Tennessee.

The five children of Asa and Rhoda (Bottom) Fulkes were:

1. Eliza (Fulkes) Hennings (ca. 1808-?)

Eliza was the first born child of Asa and Rhoda (Bottom) Fulkes. She was born about 1808 in Virginia, probably Charlotte County. She married John G. Hennings at the age of twenty-two around 2 February 1830 also in Charlotte County. They had at least nine children and moved to Carroll County, Tennessee, probably at the same time Eliza’s family moved there. In 1851 John sold 201 acres in Carroll County. We do not know where he moved but we do not think me moved to Texas.

2.  Nancy B. Fulkes (ca. 1810-before 1850)

Nancy is believed to be the second child of Asa and Rhoda (Bottom) Fulkes. Based upon census records, she was born between 1810 and 1820 in Virginia. Nothing is known about Nancy other than she appears to have died as a young woman, perhaps a child. She is not listed in the 1850 census with her family and no record has been found of her marriage.

Rebecca was born around 1816 in Virginia. She was the third child of Asa and Rhoda (Bottom) Fulkes. Rebecca was 16 years old when she married William Clark. Clement Reed, a Republican Methodist minister, married them on 6 September 1832 in Charlotte County. Rebecca and William had at least eight children. They also relocated to Carroll County, Tennessee and were last found there in the 1850 census.

Albert was the eldest son of Asa and Rhoda Fulkes. He was born about 1817 in Virginia, probably Charlotte County where he grew up. Shortly after his father’s death in 1841, the decision was made to relocate the family to Carroll County, Tennessee. The reason for this is unknown but it may have had something to do with the common problem of their land in Virginia playing out due to its continuous use growing tobacco.

Albert was the last of his siblings to marry with the exception of his older sister, Nancy who died as a single young woman. By the time the family moved to Tennessee, Albert’s older siblings had married and therefore had families of their own, so Albert lived with his brother Jack and his wife, Rebecca for a time. It is therefore not surprising that Albert married one of Rebecca’s sisters whose name was Elizabeth. Albert and Elizabeth Huston were married around 1 October 1850 in Carroll County. Elizabeth was 16 and Albert was 33 at the time of their marriage. She was the daughter of Zara and Martha (Brown) Huston, originally from North Carolina. According to family legend, sometime after their marriage, Albert and Elizabeth went back to Virginia but only for a brief time. They were still in Virginia when in June 1851 their first child was born. They named her Rhoda A.E. Fulkes. When Albert and Elizabeth returned to Carroll County, they learned that some of their friends had moved off to Texas and some of their family was going to move there as well, so a group of them set out on the long journey around 1852.

Besides Albert, Elizabeth, Jack and Rebecca, other family members that began the trek from Tennessee to Texas were Elizabeth and Rebecca’s mother, Martha (Brown) Huston along with three of their brothers, Marion A., Lucas P. and Zara B. Huston and their youngest sister, Fannie and her husband, John C. Casey. The trip was very difficult because there were no good roads into Texas at that time. The teams of horses struggled as they crossed rivers without a bridge, at times the covered wagons seemed to drift in the rapid currents of the Mississippi River. Somewhere along the way, Martha (Brown) Huston died. Perhaps it was at this point that Fannie and John C. Casey decided to turn back to Tennessee. Eventually, those left in the wagon train arrived in Travis County, Texas.

Albert is listed on the property tax rolls of Travis County in 1853. Elizabeth’s brothers lived with her and Albert for a while. In 1854 Albert purchased 300 acres of land on the north bank of Walnut Creek about ten miles north of the city of Austin. The nearest post office was Merriltown. Here he built a house and began to farm.

In 1860 or 1861 Albert joined his neighbors in building a church building. The building was located on Big Walnut Creek. It was constructed with rock walls that were 18 inches thick with a fireplace built into each end of the building. Men from the church traveled to Bastrop to purchase some of the building materials. Teams of oxen did some of the hauling. The people who lived near the church hauled the rock. The church was formally known as the Baptist Church of Christ on Walnut Creek, more commonly known as Old Rock Church. It is not known whether Albert was a member of this church although it is hard to imagine that he was not given his level of contributions to its construction. However, Elizabeth and various members of her family were members and attend services there.

The Civil War broke out in April 1861. Although none of Albert’s sons served in the war, he was deeply affected by it. When the war was over, he lost much of his wealth along with his enthusiasm for working the farm. It was said that after the war, Albert could be found just sitting under the trees looking as if he was in deep thought and that he seemed very unhappy thereafter.

Albert died on 12 February 1885 at the age of 68. He was buried in the Old Rock Church cemetery near their son, Haywood. Elizabeth, now a 51 year-old widow, continued to live in the two-room home on her farm, which was then situated in the postal community of Watters Park. By the time of Albert’s death, only two of their children had married and left home, so at least seven children remained at home to help Elizabeth run the farm. The children ranged in age from 9 to 23 years old. Over the next few years, the children married and moved out. The last one to marry was her youngest, Annie. Annie and her husband, Roy Dieterich along with their two children, Dora and Roy Jr. lived in one of the rooms of Elizabeth’s house while Elizabeth lived in the other room.

Annie took care of her mother during her declining years. It must have been hard work for a young woman with two small children and a husband of her own. In fact the strain proved to be so much that Annie’s health suffered because of it. During the summer of 1912, it was decided that Annie could no longer care for Elizabeth, as she would have liked so one of Annie’s sisters, Kate (Fulkes) Payton agreed to take care of their mother. Elizabeth died on 2 January 1913 at the age of 78. She was buried next to Albert at the Old Rock Church cemetery (now known as the Walnut Creek Baptist Church cemetery).

Albert and Elizabeth had 12 children. All but two of them lived to adulthood and were married.

5.  John D. "Jack" Fulkes (ca. 1819-1893)

Although the youngest child of Asa and Rhoda Fulkes, Jack and his older brother, Albert grew up quickly when their father died and they were called upon to take care of their mother and siblings. Jack was born around 1819 in Virginia, probably in Charlotte County. As a boy he moved with his family to nearby Halifax County. Jack’s father died in 1841 when he was twenty-two. Shortly thereafter his mother and siblings moved to Carroll County, Tennessee where he married Rebecca A. "Becky" Huston on 10 September 1845 at the age of twenty-six. Becky was about twenty-three at the time of their marriage. She was born around 1822 in North Carolina. Becky was the daughter of Zara and Martha (Brown) Huston. Two years later in 1847 Jack and Becky’s first child was born. It was a daughter and they named her Penelope Ann.

As a young man, Jack proved to be an astute businessman like his father. As a young farmer in his mid 20’s, he had already amassed over 600 acres. It would seem inevitable that someone of Jack’s abilities and resources would have been a great success right there in Tennessee; however, after only four short years, in 1849, he began selling his land and making preparations to move to Texas along with the rest of his extended family. The reasons for him leaving Tennessee are not known. Jack and his family may have hit upon hard times and decided to try to make a go of it elsewhere or perhaps he had an adventurous spirit that could not be contained. Whatever the reasons for his move, Jack would again capitalize on his skills and resources and establish a sizeable farming and ranching operation.

Jack and Becky along with several of their siblings and their families arrived in Travis County around 1852. They settled near the little town of Webberville in the eastern part of Travis County. Jack wasted no time establishing himself in business. When the 1853 Travis County tax rolls were compiled, Jack owned property valued at $4,380. By 1854 Jack had acquired 100 acres of land and the total value of his property had risen to $5,000. By 1855 the total value of his property was $7,825. By 1860 Jack’s wealth skyrocketed. His real estate was worth $6,800 and his personal property was now worth $12,140. Needless to say, Jack had overcome whatever adversities he had once faced in Tennessee and was once again a successful farmer. In July 1856 Jack and Becky’s second child was born. This time it was a son and they named him Asa Daniel. Jack and his family were members of the Old Rock Baptist Church where Albert’s family also attended.

The Civil War no doubt relieved Jack of much of his "personal property." Perhaps he felt the need to start over or at least he realized that he had to adapt to a different world, one where he would have to do business a bit differently. Nonetheless, Jack proved ever resourceful and moved his family one last time. This time he moved to nearby Williamson County around 1866. A year later he sold his 235 acres in Travis County to his brother-in-law, Zara B. Huston. Zara, a bachelor, was living with Jack and Becky when he died at the age of 35 in May 1869. It was therefore only natural that Jack was appointed the administrator of Zara’s estate.

Jack and Becky’s daughter, Penelope married Civil War veteran, James Franklin Cloud in Williamson County on 7 June 1866. She was almost 19 and he was 28. They settled in a little town nearby called Bagdad. Perhaps Jack was trying to give his daughter and son-in-law a start in life when he deeded to Penelope 775.5 acres on 29 June 1868. Penelope and James had at least 7 children before he died in 1879. Widowed at the young age of 31, Penelope continued to live in Williamson County until at least 1894.

Becky died in March 1888 at the age of sixty-six. She was buried in the Davis Cemetery in Leander, Texas. Almost immediately after Becky’s death, Jack divided her property between Penelope and Asa. The property consisted of 159 acres in two tracts. Jack died on 21 December 1893 and was buried next to Becky at the Davis Cemetery. He was seventy-four.

By 1920 Penelope and one of her sons, Lucius A. Fulkes, had relocated to Dilley in Frio County, Texas. It was here that she died on 3 August 1920. Penelope’s brother, Asa is listed in the 1900 Williamson County, Texas census as a bachelor but no other records of him have been found.

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