Archibald B. Fullingim

Archibald B. Fullingim was the ninth child of seventeen children born to Rev. Henry and Martha (Wade) Fullingim. He was their sixth son! His name first appears in the 1850 Census for Lamar County, Texas, where he was listed at twenty years old, i.e., his birth year was circa 1830. Thus, there is an obvious discrepancy with his birth year that was recorded on his headstone as 1832, which was the birth year of Archibald's next youngest sibling, Antoinette. A.B. was enumerated in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Wise County, p. 74, along with his wife, Virginia, and one of his older brothers, Edward C. His age was recorded in that census year as 26, and his occupation was listed as "laborer." Virginia's age was recorded as 19.

"In 1853 a very few hardy souls blazed a trail through the trackless wilderness that was then Wise County, and they located claims. Among them was Capt. John W. Hale, who afterward became the county's first sheriff, and his brother-in-law, Archer Fullingim [A.B. Fullingim], and a Mr. Tom McCarroll. These men establised crude shelters and Capt. Hale moved his flock of sheep from Hopkins County and remained to care for them, but there were no permanent homes built so that their families could not be moved to Wise County until the following year " (Mary Cates Moore, Centennial History of Wise County: 1853-1953.)

Archibald filed on land four miles NE of Decatur in the Oak Grove community (Letter to Rosalie Gregg, 23 Sep 1976).

He was also enumerated in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Wise County, p. 56, along with his wife, Virginia, and this time, with nine of his ten children. The youngest child, Margaret, was recorded as age one. It was Archibald who donated some of his land to the Oak Grove Methodist Church upon which it stands north of Decatur to this present day.

Archibald "lived through the early settlement of Wise County and reared a large family, dying in 1883" (Cates 1907:305).* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 26 2023, 15:11:56 UTC