Rev. Arthur Buckminster Fuller

Arthur Buckminster Fuller (August 10, 1822-December 11, 1862) was a Unitarian clergyman who endeavored to give the Unitarian Church appeal to all social classes and championed the important liberal reforms of the day. As a United States Army chaplain, he accompanied Civil War soldiers into battle and lost his life to a cause in which he firmly believed. His older sister, Margaret Fuller, was a noted Transcendentalist, feminist, and writer. His grandson, (Richard) Buckminster Fuller, was an acclaimed twentieth-century architect, poet, author, and inventor. He died in service as a chaplain at the Siege of Fredericksburg, United States Civil War.

Later there was speculation as to why Fuller would risk his life to accompany the Nineteenth Massachusetts, which was not his regiment, into battle. The Nineteenth Massachusetts' own chaplain had long since fled. He firmly believed that men deserved a chaplain by their side during a fight. He was a Unitarian who believed that salvation required faith and works, and he had many friends in the Nineteenth. It was his Christian duty to go with them.

Read more: Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography - Arthur Buckminster Fuller

Obituary

Boston Herald, December 25, 1862 DECEMBER 25, 1862. FUNERAL OF REV. ARTHUR B. FULLER.

The funeral obsequies over the remains of the late Rev. Arthur B. Fuller were performed this noon, at the Chauncy street church. The body was brought to the church early this fornoon, enclosed in a rich, ornamented rosewood casket. The latter was decorated with the American flag, and a profusion of elegant flowers wrought in bouquets and wreaths, which encircled a photograph of the deceased, taken several months prior to his death. A plate bore the following inscription:

Rev. Arthur Buckminster Fuller, Chaplain of the 16 Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers; killed at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., 11th December 1862. Aged 40 years. "I must do something for my country."

Notes

• -Graduated Harvard College 1843
• -Graduated Harvard Divinity School 1847
• -Commissioned Chaplain of the 16th Massachusetts Volunteers August 1, 1861
• -Killed at Fredericksburg, VA December 11, 1862
• -"I must do something for my country"
• A Record of the First Parish (Unitarian) in Watertown, Massachusetts by Arthur Buckminster Fuller
• Maintained the genealogical records for the Fuller family.
• Owned a chair brought from England by the immigrant ancestor, Thomas Fuller, in 1638.

Citations 

1. R. Buckminster Fuller, 12 July 1895, Milton, Massachusetts Posted: 8 Sep 2001.  Quoting from  "The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller" page 11

Sources

1. Find A Grave Memorial# 22330332
2. New England Historical & Genealogical Register Page: 13:359

Links

• Dave Utzinger's Database
• Partial Genealogy of the Fullers of Massachusetts, Part l

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1. Historical notices of Thomas Fuller and his descendants: with a genealogy of ... By Arthur Buckminster Fuller, Edith Davenport Fuller. Page 13-16.

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Arthur Buckminster Fuller was a Unitarian clergyman of the United States.

Arthur Buckminster Fuller was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusettson August 10, 1822. He was a son of United States Congressman Timothy Fuller, and was prepared for college by his sister Margaret Fuller. He graduated from Harvard College in 1843, and studied in the Harvard Divinity School. For some years, he was a teacher and missionary in Illinois, after which he held pastorates in Manchester, New Hampshire (1848–1853), Boston (new North Church; 1853–1859) and Watertown, Massachusetts (until 1861).

In the American Civil War, he became chaplain to a Massachusetts regiment on August 1, 1861. He was honorably discharged on December 10, 1862, on account of failing health. On the day following his discharge, being present at the Battle of Fredericksburg, he volunteered to join a detachment in crossing the Rappahannock River, and was killed while attempting to drive the Confederate sharpshooters out of the city.

Inventor and architect Buckminster Fuller was a grandson of his.