Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/946

882 W. Daugherty; Lulu May, wife of W. T. Edmonds; Walter A., and Ruth Virginia.

Jacob A. Fulmer, of Smithfield, Va., is a man of northern birth, education and training, who voluntarily parted from his friends and kindred who supported the Northern cause, to enlist in the Confederate army. He was born at Philadelphia, April 10, 1838, the son of Thomas and Susan (Yeager) Fulmer, Pennsylvanians by birth. His brother, William T. Fulmer, served as paymaster, with the rank of major, in the Union army. When the fight began for Southern independence he came South, in April, 1861, on the last boat from Baltimore to Norfolk before the blockade was established, and, proceeding to Nansemond county, enlisted as a private in the Old Dominion light artillery Blues, afterward Company A of the Nineteenth Virginia battalion. During his first year's service he was stationed at Town Point, and was then transferred to Richmond, where he served during the remainder of the war on the fortified lines in defense of the Confederate capital. At the end he was captured with many others in the disaster to Ewell's corps at Sailor's Creek, after which he was imprisoned for three weeks in Libby prison. On being paroled in May, 1865, he found himself without money or employment and wandered about Richmond a day or two without food or the means of obtaining it. Finally, in desperation, he applied to Colonel Slater, the Union officer in charge of commissary stores, for work of any kind to prevent starvation. The colonel was dubious in encouragement, in view of the tattered gray uniform which Fulmer wore, but the young Confederate frankly.admitted his former allegiance and so stoutly stood up for the greatness of his old commander, General Lee, and the justness of his cause, that the Federal officer, won by his sincerity, gave him an order for ten days' rations, and on the next day assigned him to a responsible position. This occupation lasted over thirty days, and before Colonel Slater left he complimented Fulmer upon the fidelity and ability he had manifested and left him an envelope to open in private. This contained $72, which, to the Confederate soldier, was a fortune, and, as he had also received free transportation to Norfolk for himself and the young lady who afterward became his wife, his future seemed bright at that moment. Proceeding to Norfolk he soon established himself as a carpenter at Smithfield, and has there ever since resided, winning a competence by his industry as a builder and contractor. He was married in 1866 to Miss Alice W. Mister, a young lady who, subsequent to their first meeting at Town Point, had taken refuge at Richmond during the war. They have two daughters, Gertrude Lee, who married Benjamin Pond, and Anna S.

Captain Alexander H. Fultz, an attorney, and prominent citizen of Staunton, Va., who held for many years the office of mayor of the city, was born in Bath county, Va., in 1837. Brought by his family to Staunton in infancy, he was there reared and educated, preparatory to the course of study he followed at Washington college. Preparing himself for the profession of law, he was admitted to the bar in 1861, but was compelled to postpone the practice he was about to undertake by the outbreak of the war. He entered the military service of the State on April 17, 1861, as a private in the Staunton artillery. His gallant record brought steady