The Fulkerson presence in Sonoma County has its origins with the arrival of Kentucky-born and raised Richard and Sally Fulkerson in Santa Rosa on October 4, 1854. They had just crossed the plains from Perry, Iowa in an ox-drawn wagon. All their extant children and their children's families pulled up roots from Iowa as well, to follow their parents out West. The 1854 Fulkerson immigration party included: Ruth and Thompson Mize; Phoebe and Jacob Harris; Mary and Merrill Mize; John and Dica Fulkerson. Richard's and Sally's youngest son, Stephen Trible Fulkerson, was only 14 at the time, but drove his own team of oxen just like the adults. Four years later he married Amanda Ellen Cockrill (whose family had come to Sonoma County in 1853) in Santa Rosa. Exactly who else came out West with the family in 1854 is not known at this time, though one would assume there were other members of this trip besides just family members. Unfortunately, a diary or a detailed description of the immigration does not appear to have existed. It also appears that the knowledge of Richard's children about their father's family history does not go back much further then his grandparents, Margaret and John Fulkerson, and it is spotty besides. Even with such a recent generation, what they say they knew about their father's life in the "vanity" biographies of the times, appears sparse and does not exactly coincide with what we can find now.
Santa Rosa was not much of a town back then; the first surveying stake to define the city's boundaries had only been set a little over a year before the arrival of the Fulkersons. At the time of their arrival, there were only three public buildings in town: two saloons and a newly constructed Masonic hall which also substituted for other necessary public functions. The Fulkerson family thrived in this environment however, and soon became enmeshed with other local pioneer families. They played a significant role in the creation of a nascent social and business community for the quickly emerging town of Santa Rosa. The memory of this pioneer society and the people who created it has long been dissipated among their widely disparate progeny. The following web site is a work-in-progress to recollect that memory and to find a voice for these early settlers who risked everything to create a new life of their own in California.
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This page created on 08/03/99 15:22. Updated 04/30/2002 23:24.